Dear Dieary, Love Elly
by Kennedy C
Summary: Johnny's life is going well, normally for him. Until one day a mysterious girl appears on his doorstep. This is the story of her life told through her Die-ary entries. you may not know, but I hate swearing, so there will be none in here. there is violence
1. Recount of a life long lost

Dear Die-ary,

life sucks. well, at least my life does. Oh, you lucky people with people who care about you. well I have noone. I am utterly alone. yep, that's me. I am Elly C. fourteen years worth of one tiny little mistake. and believe me, people have mentioned to me before that I am a mistake. well, anyway. here's a recount of my stupidly dismal day.

I did not go home to Devi's apartment like I ususally do. Instead I took a road that took me to house number 777. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Johnny sighed. "I'm in the middle of something" he said, rolling his eyes.he put down his gun and started for the door. "Johnny, what are you doing?" asked Mr.Eff "You shouldn't let something as stupid as the door come between you and your death." Johnny rolled his eyes. "it's not going to work." he said. he walked faster, leaving Mr. Eff behind. he opened the door, surprised to see a fourteen year old girl standing on his doorstep.

My eyes widened and I started hyperventilating. "Stop it!" I whispered to myself. "umm, hi." I said. "Umm, I'm Elly. you may not know me, but I know you. y-your my dad." okay, i wouldn't take myself seriously if I was him. Of course, I didn't blame him when he slammed the door. "no, seriously!" I shouted after him, pounding on the door. "You and Devi!" the door flew open so suddenly that I almost hit him in the face. that would have been a very bad first impression. "devi?" he asked. "yeah, she's my mom." I explained. "you mean, Devi's your mom?" I nodded. that's when the door slammed the second time. I growled angrily. "this is getting frustrating!" I shouted. I slumped against the door and sat down. I pulled up my sleeve. I needed to calm my nerves. I pulled up the leg of my pants and grabbed my knife. almost mechanically, I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt.

"She can't be Devi's daughter!" shouted Johnny. "Because that would mean that something happened between us, and I'm pretty sure nothing did!" Mr. Eff gave him a hard look. "Are you sure?" he asked. Johnny's eyes widened. "Oh, gosh she is my daughter." he whispered. "Just kill the girl and get back to your suicide attempt" said Mr. Eff. "I guess I should." Johnny said. he walked over to the door, but instead looked through the window next to it. the girl sat, huddled inthe doorway. As Johnny watched, the girl pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and drew a large knife over her arm. "Come look at this" beckoned Johnny, waving his arm. Mr. Eff slid over to the window and looked out. "Interesting." he said. "she sure acts like she could be your daughter." "I'm gonna open the door, leave now.' siad Johnny. he opened the door a crack.

I sighed happily. the feeling of the cold knife against my bare flesh felt good. I had been cutting myself for longer than I could remember. I turned my head with a start when the door opened. Johnny had a half smile on his face. "So, you're Elly, right?" he asked. "Yes." I answered. "Come in." he said. I gladly walked into his house. it was dirty and cluttered, Devi's apartment was waaayyy nicer. there were bloodstains on the walls and it smelled kind of funny. But I like it. "This is my house.' said Johnny. "Here, I'll take you on a tour..."

Johnny quickly grabbed a large butcher knife and held it behind his back. He guided Elly down the hall, and to a door. "I'm gonna show you my favorite room in the house." he said. Johnny led Elly down the staircase and into the pitch black basement. he slammed the door and held the butcher knife over his head, poised to sink it into Elly's throat. that's whne he hesitated. Elly did look a lot like Devi. she also looked a lot like him. and maybe devi would come back for her, because he did know that if she was Devi's daughter, devi would not like her here. Suddenly, Mr. Eff slid up next to him. "kill her." he said. "It's as easy as killing the others." "Who's that?" asked Elly, turning around slowly...

Oh, gosh. I thought. he's going to kill me. But what really caught my attention wasn't the knife that was held above my neck, but the small creature at Johnny's feet. johnny threw the knife aside. "I can't do this." he said. "You're wrong. it's not like killing the others. it's like killing a part of me and Devi. all the good parts." the creature at his feet seemed to get enraged. "You're so weak Johnny!" it shouted. "You can't kill a little girl, no wonder you can't kill yourself." and with that, the creature left. "You didn't kill me" I said, surprised. "No." answered Johnny. he reached up and turned on the light, illuminating a small, dark room in the basement. It was filled wiht torture devices and other weapons of murder. and did I mention the blood? No, well It was everywhere. "This doesn't scare you?" he asked me. I shook my head. "No, not really." I replied. Johnny walked in slow circles around me, studying me closely. "You have her eyes." he said. "And my nose." a small smile creeped onto his face. "You look so much like both of us." he laughed. "Well, I guess you really are my daughter." he finally said, after a moment of silence. "And i'm letting you know that if you stay there are a few rules. First of all, I am not a fatherly figure, so don't act like I am. second of all, you are going to have to deal with blood and dying people a lot, so be warned. third, I am an insomniac, do I will be up and out at night." Johnny took a breath. "Do you have a nickname?" he asked me. "I nodded. "Yeah." I said. "people call me Lly." Johnny smiled. "You can call me Nny." he pointed me in the direction of the stairs. "So how is Devi doing?" he asked.

"You're letting her stay!?" shouted Mr. Eff. "If you're going to die you can't be emotionally attached to anyone!" "I'm not emotionally attached to her!" Johnny shouted. "There's just so much of me I see in her. Like she has my same thoughts." "This is no time for idiotic feelings, Johnny" said PyschoDoughboy, floating up beside Mr. Eff. "The girl will only get in the way of your perfect suicide." "No she won't." pointed out Johnny. "I'm not going to get emotionally attached like I did with Devi. I don't want anything like that happening to me ever again." Johnny sighed and sat down. "That was the closest I ever felt to love." he whispered. Mr.Eff rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I guess we'll have to see this girl for ourselves." said PyschoDoughboy.

I sat alone looking out of the window of a small room. A single star was out. even though it was pitch black, I knew what was in it. A small table and a bloodstained mattress that Johnny had dug up from the basement. I was exhausted, but I knew that I would fall asleep hours from now, if at all. And than I heard the door open. "Nny?" I asked. two pairs of eyes glinted at me in the dim light. I took a step backwards. "So this is the girl?" asked one. "Who-who said that?" I stuttered. "Can she hear us?" asked another. "Yeah," I answered. "I can hear you fine." I fumbled around blindly for my knife. "So, this is the little rat I've heard so much about." came a third voice, this one from directly behind me. I turned to see a creature much like the one I had seen at Johnny's feet earlier. I stepped backwards and almost let out a small scream, when a hand clamped over my mouth from behind me. It was Johnny. "shhh" he hushed me. "Can you see them?" he whispered in my ear. I nodded. "Well don't listen to anything they say!" he raised his voice toward them. "Leave her alone!" when they left a moment later, he took his hand off of my mouth. "You really are a lot like me." he said. "not many people can see them. they're creatures of my imagination." my eyes widened. "You're one of the first that can see them." he finished. "Who are they?" I asked. "Well, the one that tried to jump you from behind was PyschoDoughboy. and then the floating one was Nailbunny and the last one is Mr. Eff." wow. my father really is as demented as Devi said he was. "Don't let them bother you." Johnny said. "And don't listen to them. they lie to you." Johnny left the room shortly after saying that, announcing that he was leaving for town. he told me where my new school would be and that i would have to get myself there. And than I was alone again. I stood and looked out the window, wondering what devi was thinking right now.

Devi finally admitted defeat. she had been driving around for hours looking for Elly, and it was midnight and she had seen no sign of her at all today. Well, not like it was any big deal or anyhting, Devi lied to herself. She drove slowly back to her apartment, passing a familiar house on the way. number 777. Devi felt emotions from the past bubbling up inside, threatening to over take her. she braked quickly, for no apparent reason. "What are you doing?" she asked herself. Oh, where could Elly be? Devi knew that she couldn't lie to herself anymore. She needed Elly. Lly was all she had to hold onto. the only good memories she had left of Johnny. Why hadn't she told Lly that before? probably because she was too wrappped up in calling Elly the mistake that she seriously was. Lly was left to put together the peices of a father she had never known. Devi started the car again. But not before seeing a flicker of movement in Johnny's house. Devi drove slowly away. something wet fell onto her hand. it was a single tear. the byproduct of a thousand horrible memories. and one good one. But as Devis drove away she had a feeling that the person in the window felt the same way. because she was almost certain that that person had been Elly.

They came back after midnight. I don't know how, but I had somehow fallen asleep. I woke up to see the three creatures watching me. "Hello Elly." said Mr.Eff. at least I think it was Mr. Eff. "Nny said I shouldn't listen to you." I said. "Your father is a fool." said Mr.Eff. "He left you for fourteen years, what makes you think he wants you now?" I frowned. "He doesn't love you Elly." he said. "I know." I said. "Nobody does." "That's true." said Nailbunny. "So do the only thing meaningful in your life." "Kill yourself." finished PyschoDoughboy. Isn't it creepy how they finish eachother's sentences? I stood up quickly, laying my mind back on track. "No." I said. "I'm not listening to you!" I backed away. "You father is weak!" shouted Mr. Eff. "And you are weak too!" his voice made me cringe, but at the same time it gave me a strength. you know that kind of strength you get when someone says something mean to you and you just have to shout a comeback at them. I am definitly feeling that right now. "I am not weak!" I shouted. "No matter what you tell me, I am not weak! I have grown up in a home where all I'll ever be is an accident! where I'll never get a chance to prove myself because noone will ever lsiten to what I say! A place where I'm worthless and hated like Vermin!" now th tears were flowing freely, the first time in a long time. I pulled up my sleeve. about fifty jagged purple lines were etched all the way up my forearm. "I have to cut myself so that the pain will finally go away and be numb now! I have to cut myself to feel anything" I sank down on the mattress, my shoulders heaving with sobs. "I am not weak." I said quietly. "Because if I was I would have killed myself by now." I heard uncertain whispers behind me. And they finally died down as I fell asleep.

And that, Dear Die-ary, was my day. to be continued tomorrow. until then,

Love Elly.


	2. In a Little deeper

Dear Die-ary,

Today was one of the crappiest days of my life. Well, no it actually wasn't. I guess every day of my life is the crappiest. Oh, well. this just goes to show you that my life really does suck. Do you want to hear about it? Let me answer for you. Yes. Yes, you do.

I woke up quickly and remembered that I had to go to school. I fumbled my way to the bathroom and showered, throwing on an outfit that I probably put together in the dark. I put my long black hair in front of one eye, like always, and finished the look by strapping my cutting knife to my leg. I was ready for anything my new school would throw at me.

Hey, you know that last comment I made? well I was wrong. so horribly wrong I was. The old brick high school was situated right behind the elementary school, so I just followed some random kid until I found it. Scared the crap out of him, I did. Ha, ha ha. yeah. good times. Well anyway, I made one new friend and one new enemy. My friend, I met in math class.

"Class, this is Elly." announced the teacher. he steered me into a seat behind a boy with black hair. The boy turned to me. He has sharply outlined features that made him look like a rebel. He was cute, I guess. Oh, what am I saying, he was hot. "Hi, I'm Brian" he said. He looked at me sideways, reminding me of a puppy. His eyes seemed to dig into my very soul, as if searching for something. He wore a black jacket over a red shirt that had a skull on it and blue jeans. He studied me for a while and extended his hand. I shook it awkwardly. He smiled. "Speak much?" he asked. I shook myself out of my trance-like state and smiled back, blushing. "Usually more than now." I answered. "So..." he started after a moment of silence. "Did you just move here Elly?" "Lly" I corrected. "You can call me Lly. And yeah, I guess you could say that."

Devi bit her lower lip. "So she's not here?" she asked. The secretary nodded. "To my knowledge she withdrew her records yesterday. Said she was moving." Devi turned away, trying not to cry. Oh, well. she thought. I guess she might be safe with Johnny. I should check on her though. No. No, I'm never going back to that place ever again. No force on heaven or earth would ever get me to go back there. Even Elly. Devi had clearly made up her mind about this matter, even though in her heart she knew she would have to go back sooner or later.

"Lly!" called Brian, waving me over to where he was sitting for lunch. As soon as I sat down, someone tapped on my shoulder. I looked up. There she stood. She had that, I rule, You suck, kind of aura around her. She raised an eyebrow and looked at me skeptically. "So, you're the new kid?" she asked. I opened my mouth to reply, but she was too quick. "Lana M." she said, extending her hand. I silently compared her perfect manicure to my self-painted and chipped black fingernails. "Elly." I said. Brian looked uneasy."Welcome to school." said Lana, with a sassy air. "Oh, and just so you know, you can do better than this." Lana pointed at Brian. She looked at me and I sensed traces of venom in her stare. "You know what, nevermind. Considering the way you look, I guess you really can't." I stood up quickly. Lana's eyes narrowed. My hands went instinctively to my leg, where my knife was securely hidden under the denim of my jeans. Me and Lana stood face-to-face. "I'm not afraid of you." I said, teeth gritted. All eyes were on me and Lana. "Gothic freak." said Lana. "Why don't you just kill yourself now?" My eyes widened. That, my dear friends, was the last straw. I pulled out the knife in mere seconds, and plunged it into the lunch table behind Lana. she jumped, and I could see the fear reflected in her eyes. Gasps reverberated off the faded walls of the ancient high school, which echoed the noises of the doors slamming behind me.

"Elly, wait!" shouted Brian. He was the only one who had even bothered to follow me out of the cafeteria when I stormed out. I walked quickly towards Johnny's house, making large angry strides. Brian had to run to catch up to me. One could even say I was propelled by the force of my own anger. Yeah. Stuff like that. "Elly, don't let her get to you!" shouted Brian behind me. I whirled around to face him, so fast it made him jump. He was carrying my knife. "I get enough of that at home!" I shouted. "You think I come to school to take more of this crap?" Brian's eyes widened and I noticed that he was not looking at me anymore. I turned around. We were standing in the doorway of Johnny's house. "You live here?" he asked. "Yes." I replied. Brian shook a little. He handed me my knife. "Thanks." I said. I opened the door. "You wanna come in?" I asked. Brian nodded, and I could tell he was trying to put on his big boy pants and be brave. "Sure." he answered. We walked into the kitchen slowly, Brian marveling at everything he came into contact with. Gosh, you think he'd seen a house before. I gave him a lightning quick tour, showing him everything except the basement. That, was a big No-no. I knew I would most surely lose my only friend if I showed him my manaical, psycho father's chamber of torture. At the end of the tour he turned to face me. "I have only one question." he said. "Will you promise to answer if I ask it?" I bit my lower lip hesitantly. I had done a pretty good job of masking the blood and covering some of the low growly noises coming from the basement. I swallowed hard. "Yes." I answered. "Why do you carry that knife with you?" I sighed. "A promise is a promise." I muttered. I pulled up my sleeve and showed him the scars. Brian stood behind me and I could feel how tall he was. He traced my scars lightly with his hands. I shuddered at his touch and closed my eyes. His touch seemed to ignite my emotions, and it was like nothing I've ever felt before. it was almost...almost... Brian's cell phone rang, shattering the moment. I opened my eyes and he let go of me. He answered the phone quickly. "Hello?" I turned away, standing next to him and trying to figure out what I had felt. "Yeah, I'm fine. No. No. I'm going to walk home today. Okay. Really, I am fine. Okay! Sorry. I said I was sorry. Alright. Bye." Brian hung up the phone. "Hey, I have to go now, school's over." I nodded, and we stood in silence for a moment, looking anywhere but at eachother. "I really have to get going now." he finally said. "You wanna walk with me?" I smiled. "Sure." I replied happily.

Johnny paced in the basement, anxiously waiting. Not just for anyone, but for Lly. He had something to show her. Something he needed her help with. His victim sat on the floor, watching him in fear. Just one of the many people who felt that they had something contradictory to say about the way he was. "Where could she be?" he asked Mr. Eff. "She's a child, Johnny." he replied. "Well, I wouldn't show her something she wasn't ready for." "So you're going to show her a murder?" "Not just a murder... I'm gonna show her the wall." Mr. Eff's eyes widened. "If you show her that wall, she'll end up just like you. Bitter. Alone. A slave to the house, doing things that she would clearly not have been doing if it weren't for the wall" Johnny stopped pacing, angrily. "If I weren't here right now, thousands more would be dead!" The woman stopped crying, and stared at the man, clearly confused. Was she becoming delusional? had fear made her lose her mind? she was watching her murderer talk to a styrafoam figure. and it was talking back. And moving. Who was the girl he was talking about? Oh, gosh, what was he going to do to her? Johnny turned to her quickly. "You." He asid. "You should feel lucky. you're giving up your life to save countless others. Almost heroic." The woman's eyes widened. "I-I don't understand..." she started. "Shhh" hushed Johnny. "I'll explain more when my daughter gets here."

"So it's just you and your mom?" I asked. "Yep." answered Brian. "She's kind of paranoid about me. My dad beat both of us when he was drunk, but now he's gone." "What happened?" I asked. "He was sent to jail for manslaughter. He got into a car crash and killed a family of five. When he got out, he went pyscho and tried to kill my mom. He thought she was dead, so he left and and shot some kids at the elementary school and killed a teacher. Then he killed himself." My eyes filled with sympathy. "I don't ususally tell people this. You're the first person I've told." His eyes met mine, and for once, I felt like we were the only two people in the world. "My life hasn't exactly been what you would call perfect, either." I said. "My mom accidentaly got pregnant with me, and she uses any excuse she has to remind me. Lly, you're an accident, and you'll never be anything else, or Lly, you give me bad memories. So I ran away to live with my father. My story kind of stops here, because if I tell you anything else, you'll think I'm crazy." Brian frowned. "I won't think you're crazy." he said. "Really, I trust you, you can tell em anything." "Okay." I said, hesitantly. "My father's a pyscho maniac that talks to creatures that his own mind made up." I hesitated. "And I can see them too. They talk to me." I looked over at Brian, pretty sure he thought I was crazy. And amazingly, he looked at me like I was the sanest person in the world.

"What do they tell you?" he asked. "They tell me to kill myself." I whispered, not looking at him. "And when I tell them I won't, they tell me I'm weak. Just like my father." Brian gave me a hug. It was so unexpected, it took my breath away.

"Lly?" he asked me.

"Yes?"

"Lly, promise me something"

"What?"

"Promise me you'll never do what they say. Promise me."

"I promise." I whispered. The door opened behind us and a tired looking short woman in pajamas came out on the doorstep. "Who's this?" she asked. She looked exactly like Brian. She was a little shorter, with her black hair cropped short. she wore dark framed glasses, which was one major difference. Brian instantly let me go. he looked away sheepishly. "Who's this?" she asked again. Brian cleared his throat hesitantly. "Mom, this is Elly, Elly, this is Mom." Brian's mom gave me a hard look. It was kind of a mix between dissapprovement and distrust. than, get this, she gasped, and she looked at me with fear and _recognition_, in her eyes. "Brian, get inside." she said quickly. Brian walked in, and turned to look back at me. "Bye, Lly" he said with a smile. I walked home alone, the sky darkening and the stars coming out as I did.

I got home at around midnight. "Hello?" I asked. The house was unusually silent. The basement door was ajar, so I went into the basement. Johnny was waiting for me when I got there. "Lly" he said, walking towards me. I heard movement, so I turned my head towards the noise. A woman was tied up in the corner. I could tell she was terrified. "Lly, I have something to show you." he said. "Please, sir!" came her pleading voice from the corner. "Think-what are you teaching your daughter?" Johnny turned with a snarl frozen on his face. "How to take over the family business." he snarled. The woman cried silently in the corner. Johnny walked over to a table and selected two small swords. He held one in fron tof his face, turning it like he was inspecting it. "Watch. And. Learn." he said slowly. He threw a sword. It whistled throught he air with deadly accuracy. It hit the woman's shoulder blade, spurting blood all over the already bloodied floor. The woman screamed. "Aw, I missed." said Johnny. He walked slwoly over to me. He held the other sword out crefully, his expression telling me to tak eit. I shook. Ever so carefull, I took it from his hands. I turned my head and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath, and threw the sword...

Devi woke with a scream. She was clutching her heart with one hand. She was dripping in sweat and panting. She often had nightmares with Johnny in them, but this one was different. This time, Elly was the killer. If Elly really was with Johnny, than she might not even be alive. But what if she was? What if Johnny was somehow training her in the art of murder? What if Elly was the next Johnny? This thought scared Devi. She needed to bring Elly back. She stood up and walked out of the room. Her feet led her instead, into Elly's room. Devi sat on the bed. Lly's room was just as it had been before she left. The deep purple walls held the same posters they always held, only this time, Devi felt only emptiness in them. Clothes lay in dissarray on the floor. If only Lly was here, Devi thought. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply...

"Please!" the woman's pleading cry was cut off quickly. I turned around. The sword was embedded in her chest. A tiny stream of blood trickled out of her mouth and landed on the sword. Johnny's eyes were wide open and his mouth was agape. My eyes were probably even bigger. I mean, I just killed someone! Wait a minute, I just killed someone! I felt terrible, yet at the same time, I felt good. Like some kind of ancient and terrible bloodlust overtook me. Like Johnny's spirit possessed me. Johnny walked slowly over to me, as if in a daze. "Wow." he said. "But the surprise is far from over. This was just part one." So with a little grunting and groaning, on my part, we dragged the body through a couple of rooms and down a flight of stairs, to a different room. As soon as we were there, something caught my eye. I left Johnny to drag the body the rest of the way in, and walked straight up to what had caught my eye. Johnny walked over to stand beside me. "This is part two." he said. he grabbed a paintbrush and dipped it in blood from the woman's wounds. He handed me one, but I had other plans. I pulled out my knife and slit my arm, walking slowly, like a zombie to the wall that occupied the far end of the room. I dropped the knife on the ground and dragged my wounded arm over the wall. Johnny watched me, silently. I heard Mr.Eff slide up next to him. "Johnny." he said. "This isn't a smart idea." I moved slowly, in a trance. I felt a sudden sting in my arm, and felt instantly drawn to the wall. As if it were the master,and I the servant. I needed to satisfy it. To quench it's thirst for blood. A growling noise came from behind the wall. Johnny quickly jumped to action, grabbing my waist and pulling me away, so fast it made my head spin. I shook myself out of my trance-like state and ripped a chunk off my shirt to nurse my wounded arm. And so, it begins...

I didn't sleep at all for the rest of that night, die-ary. I felt weird and my arm kept hurting. I felt like I gave up a part of me, and that I was different now. Oh, well. good-bye die-ary. I hope I have a better day tomorrow.

Love Elly.


	3. Plans and senseless killing

Dear Die-ary,

Before I go into what happened to me today, I would like to talk about my feelings.

Misunderstood. Hated. Numb. Alright, enough of that, here's my day.

I looked in the mirror at my reflection. Something last night happened to change me. I needed a new look. A new look to signify the new me. Flashbacks from last night played through my mind like a movie. I grabbed my knife. My chest-length black hair would be my next victim. I held my hair in a loose ponytail with my hand. With my other hand, I used my knife to cut it. My hair now ended at the base of my neck. I pulled it back, showing my face, which is something I susually never did. Usually It hung over one eye, giving me that shy, timid look. But that was all over now. Now, I was bold. I did another thing I normally never did. I wore a tank top. I almost always wear long sleeves so that poeple don't see my scars. My proof that life hasn't treated me very well. But now I bore them with a smile. Now they were battle scars. I left for school with a satisfied smile on my face.

Johnny watched Lly leave for school that day. "She's changed since last night." he said. "But at least someone can take care of the house if something happens to me." Pyscho Doughboy sighed. "She needs to kill by herself. If you hadn't caught that person last night, she wouldn't have killed. teach her how to do it by herself." Johnny nodded slowly. "But hurry. training the girl may make you become attached to her. That can't happen. You have to kill yourself." Johnny's expression hardened. "I know you talked to her after I told you not to." he said. "What did you tell her?"

"We told her nothing"

"What did you tell her?!"

Pyshco doughboy smiled evilly. "The same things we tell you." Johnny turned angrily.

"Don't you ever tell her that! You can get to me, but I don't want you getting to her!"

"You're becoming attached to the girl, Johnny"

"What's so wrong with that?!"

"Because you have to die!"

"I can't! I can't leave Lly behind!"

"I knew this would happen! you're so weak Johnny! you should have killed the girl when you got the chance! now look what she's done to you!"

"I can't now! she's connected to the house now, she can't leave! she has to keep the monster back!"

"She's connected by blood! You're not! You can die, she can't afford it. When she dies the monster will get out anyway. You can protect her, but you can't protect yourself anymore."

Johnny tunred away, puzzling hard over what he was just told. Pyscho Doughboy left quietly, leaving Johnny to think some more. So that's why Mr. Eff said it was a bad idea to let her put her own blood on the wall. Because it connected her to the house. She was trapped here with him, and they both couldn't leave. Only now she was a bigger slave to the house then he was. "What have I done?" he whispered. "What have I done?"

Devis' back ached from spending the rest of the night on Elly's bed. Right as she was leaving, something caught her eye. A small, worn, leatherbound journal lay on the floor. Devi opened it. She flipped to a random page and looked at it. Her eyes skimmed slowly over the page.

_Dear Die-ary_, it read. _I've noticed that noone in my life cares about me. I have no friends at school, my mother despises my existence, and I'm sure whoever my father was, he doesn't care either. Why don't I just kill myself? Why don't I just die right now? Today I picked up one of my mother's knives and held it to my wrist. I finally just left it on the counter._

Devi flipped the page. _Dear Die-ary. I cut myself on purpose today. It hurt, but then again everything in my life hurts._

Devi flipped all the way to the very last page in the journal. _Dear Die-ary. I can't sleep. but then again, I never can. My mom says I get it from my father. And then she tells me for the fifth time today, Lly, you're an accident, go away so I don't remember._ Devi's eyes started to water. _That's why I'm running away. I finally know enough about my father to find him. I've always wondered what he was like, and now I'm going to find out. I'va already filled you all the way up with the dismal readings of my life, and now I must go. I bought another journal with my money, that will replace you... my only friend._

Devi put the journal back on the ground. This was all her fault. She never realized how much she needed Elly until she drove her away. For the first time in a long time, Devi started to cry.

"Wow Lly. You look...Good." Brian said. I could tell he looked amazed. "But what if teachers see your scars?" I shrugged. "Who cares? it's not like they can do anything about it." "You better look out, Lly." warned Brian. "Lana's on the warpath." As soon as he finished the sentence, Lana was standing behind me.

"Well, well, well" she said. "If it isn't the knife carrying goth freak."

"If it isn't the fake blonde." I shot back at her. Lana sneered. she looked down at my arms. "At least I don't have to cut myself to feel anything." I held out my arms to show the small crowd that had gathered around us. "You don't know what my life is like." I explained calmly. And than the bell rang. Brian ran up next to me. "Lly, we have first period together." he said happily. "Cool." I said. "Is Lana gonna be there?"

"Yeah"

"Not cool"

"I'm sorry."

I smiled at Brian. He smiled back. Really, I trust you, you can tell me anything. That line echoed in my head. Would Brian be angry if I told him that I killed? But I guess if I told him that, I would have to tell him everything. Could I tell him everything?

I usually don't tell people. Your the first person I've told. I sighed. The things he had told me last night ran in and out of my head. I guess I could. No, I don't guess, I know. I silently promised myself that I would tell Brian today. I hoped he would accept me for who I was. No matter what I did.

Mr.Eff paced slowly. "This is more than what Johnny has." explained Pyscho Doughboy. "This is a blood connection. And one of these days, it's gonna get hungry. And not just for any blood, but for only the girl's."

"Can we postpone that day?" asked Mr.Eff

"Well, first of all, it will come when it comes, and second of all, we have no way of stopping it. It's been denied her blood once, And now that's all it wants. The only way to stop it's cravings is to give it what it wants."

"To give it the girl?" asked Mr.Eff

"Yes. When the time comes. It's unpredictable. if she dies beforehand, it will come out and there will be no stopping it. The girl cannot die. yet. But when the time comes she will have to die."

"Look at you." said Nailbunny, floating up beside the Doughboys.

"Deciding the girl's fate when the day you speak of is a long time from now."

"We are not deciding her fate." said Mr.Eff

"We are contemplating what to do about it."

"Enough of this." said Pyscho Doughboy.

"All we know is the girl must stay alive until then. We must watch out for her. I know it's against our nature, but we must. In the end she will wind up dead. So until then, forget about it. She'll be fine."

"I should ever have told her that." cried Devi. "Sure it was an accident, but I still shouldn't have told her that it's her fault." Devi felt terrible. She wanted to yell at herself. But at least she knew one thing. Elly was alive. Now all she had to do was face her past to reclaim her daughter. But she knew it wasn't going to be that easy. She hadn't seen Johnny for fourteen years, and the last time she saw him, he had tried to kill her. She tried her best to steer clear of anything that had to do with him, but now she was faced with a decision. To go back and get Elly, or give up hope of ever seeing her again. And this was shaping up to be one of the hardest decisions Devi knew she would ever have to make.

I walked down the hall, finally relieved to be getting a break from Lanaland. I honestly don't care how much money she has. But she must need it for her weekly botox. I swear one of these days I'm gonna tell her she needs one. I walked to the bathroom slowly. All kinds of thoughts ran through my mind as I selected a stall. it was the last ond inthe row, the one farthest away from the door. I stood next to the toilet. There was something wrong with the floor. I stomped my foot. The floor sounded hollow. I laughed. it sounded funny. I stomped around on the floor a couple of times. I laughed again. But something was wrong. I stood still, but the floor made a kind of creaking groan sound as I stood there. It finally gave way, and I fell through, screaming as I fell.

I landed right on my bottom. I stood up slowly, wincing and cursing. I looked up to see an Elly shaped hole in the bathroom floor. The light that filtered in was just enough to make out my surroundings. It was dark and drippy. Rats ran around my feet. I walked a little further and noticed that the end tapered into a tunnel. I followed the tunnel until it ended. Sometimes there were holes in the cieling, letting light in occasionally. It was a pretty straight tunnel, so I didn't have to make any turns. At the very end there was a trapdoor on the cieling. The wall was perfectly slick, so all I could do was thump ont he trapdoor and hope somebody opened it.

Johnny frowned. A thumping sound was coming from the basement. He walked down the stairs and looked around. The thumping seemed to be comign from a trapdoor in the corner. Johnny went and opened the door. To his surprise, Lly was standing in a tunnel underneath the trapdoor. "Lly, what are you doing here?" he asked in amazement. Johnny grabbed her hands and pulled her up. "I fell." she answered when she was sitiing on the floor. "From the girl's bathroom in school. I followed the tunnel here." her eyes widened and she turned to Nny. his face held the same expression. "Go back to school." he said.

"Brian!" I shouted, running after him. "I have to tell you something!" Brian pulled his backpack out of his locker. "Tell me." he said. "I'll walk you home. You can tell me on the way." I followed Brian out of school. He walked me down the path and away from school. "Alright, shoot." I took a deep breath.

"Last night I killed someone." Brian stopped and I smacked into him, scattering my books. he bent over to help me pick them up. "Look, my father has this wall, and there's like this big monster thing behind it, and if we don't give it blood, it'll get out and eat everyone." Brian stopped and looked at me. "Alright, Lly." he said. "I still trust you. I won't tell anyone. Just don't kill me."

"I would never." I said. Brian raised an eyebrow.

"I would never do anything to hurt you."

Me and Brian looked away shyly. We both reached out to grab the same book at the same time. He accidentaly put his hand on top of mine. We froze for a second like that, Brian looking at me with his brown puppy eyes. Than he pulled his hand away and we turned away from each other for an awkward silence that seemed to me to last hours. "Seriously. I would kill a thousand people to protect you." Brian blushed. "You're blushing." I said. "No, I'm not." said Brian, turning his head quickly. "Yes you are!" I smiled. He grabbed my book and took off running. I chased after him happily. He finally surrendured my book after I was panting hard. We finally finished the walk home half an hour after we left school. When we were standing in my doorway, he turned to me. "Hey, I'm going to the mall tomorrow to get my ear pierced. You wanna come? Maybe after that we can catch lunch and just walk around?" I nodded. "I would love to." I answered. I finally asked the question that was bugging me. "You mean like a date?" "No." he said quickly. "Like a not-date-date. You get what I'm saying?" I shook my head. "Uh, no, not really." "Nevermind then." said Brian. "I'll pick you up at one, okay?" I smiled. "Yeah, perfect."

"I am going to train you in the art of murder." said Johnny, swishing his knife for emphasis. "First, you catch a victim." I followed Johnny to the basement. He opened the trapdoor quickly and quietly to reveal a nerdy redheaded girl, wandering the corridor, trapped like a rat. My eyes widened. "I know that girl!" I said quickly. "She makes fun of everyone at school even though she's a huge dork!" Johnny smiled. "This should be fun then." he shut the trapdoor. "Next, select your weapon." Johnny walked over to a table covered in weapons. Every weapon of murder you could think of was on that table. I picked up three large knives. "I see you favor knives." Johnny said. I nodded. "Now we kill?" I asked. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." he said. "Calm down. Don't worry, you'll get to murder. just wait." He led me over to a corner with a pillow strung up on the wall. "Now." he said. "I don't really know how to put this, because you can murder any way you want, just... practise on the pillow, okay?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. "Whatever." I said. I walked over stiffly and slashed the pillow. it flopped down on the floor. "Weee." I said in a bored voice. "Because I'm having so much fun." Johnny rolled his eyes. he opened the trapdoor. I watched him and waited until he motioned sarcastically for me to go down. I smiled. Taking a deep breath, I scooted off the edge until I landed squarely on my feet in the tunnel. I saw the girl up ahead. Her name was Eunice B. She turned around when she heard me land. I jumped up and pressed myself against the walls, my body hidden by the shadows. "Hello?" she asked. I walked quickly, my footsteps silent. I smiled. I was going to play a little game with my victim, just for fun. I found a loose stone and threw it across the floor. It came to rest inches away from her. "Who's there?" she asked. I walked forward carefully, making sure all she could see was my shadow. I drew one of the knives and she screamed. All of my muscles ached for the chase and I followed as she ran from me, terrified through the tunnel. She hit the dead end and looked around desperatly. I threw a knife from where I was standing. It hit her in the leg and she lost her balance, falling with a scream. I stepped slowly out of the shadows. Her eyes widened when she saw my face. "Y-you're that new kid at school!" she stammered, pointing at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Look." I said. "Seeing as you're going to die in a few minutes anyway, let's play a game. I have two knives behind my back. You have two chances to guess my name. If you get it right, I'll let you go."

"Promise?" she asked.

I crossed the fingers of the hand behind my back. "Promise."

"Alright. first guess is..."

"You better hurry" I said after a while. "I'm getting impatient."

"Kelly!" she said.

I was silent for a moment, watching the hopeful look on her face.

"Wrong!" I shouted, throwing a knife. This one lodged in her side. she screamed in pain.

"One more chance..."

"Lly!" shouted Johnny into the tunnel. "Lly, are you down there?"

Silence.

Nailbunny floated up beside Johnny. "She's been down there an awful long time." he finally said. "Maybe I should-"

"No." interrupted Nailbunny. "This is her first murder. She's by herself. Give her a little more time."

"I'm still worried." said Johnny. "Sometimes they fight back."

"How hard can a freshman girl fight?" asked Nailbunny sarcastically.

"I don't know." answered Johnny. "Lly can put up quite a fight." Johnny sighed and started to pace back and forth. "I just hope she's alright."

"Lly!" came the shout from the end of the tunnel. Eunice brightened up as much as she could. "Lly!" she said. "That's your name!

it's-" I threw the second knife. It flew quickly and silently, embedding itself in the girl's throat. Blood splattered everywhere. I walked up to her. "Actually, it's Elly" I said. "Lly is my nickname." I put on an evil smile and walked back to the trapdoor. I knocked on it and Johnny opened it.

Johnny was relieved. Lly stood there. She looked fine, if not a little blood splattered. Johnny pulled her up, smearing blood on his hands. "How'd it go?" he asked anxiously. Lly smirked evilly. "It went perfect. Body's at the end, dead as nails." Johnny wiped his hands on his pants. "Well, go get it. You know what we have to do." Johnny and Elly walked to the end of the tunnel and retrieved Eunice's body. "Geez, Elly, what did you do to her?" Johnny asked. Lly smiled. "I played a little game."

"What was it, pin the knife through the throat of the victim?"

"Nope, it was try to guess my name."

"Wow, she must have lost badly."

"She was one letter off."

Devi sat at the table, drumming her fingers nervously. She felt restless and frightened. Tomorrow was saturday. She was going to check out a couple of Lly's old haunts and see if she could find her. Lly needed to come home and Devi needed to tell her how she truly felt. She had made a long list of all the places Lly hangs out. Hung out, at least. The first one was the roof, but that was not obviously where she was. The park, the mall, the cliff, all Elly's favorite hangouts. Devi was going to check them all out. She knew she needed rest, but she couldn't sleep. She was a mess. She had spent all day sitting in the house. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her hair stuck out at odd angles. Inside she knew something was wrong. But she didn't know what. But one thing was sure. Trouble for Lly. If not now, very soon. Around the corner. Devi could feel it.

So my Die-ary, I must go now. I have a fun filled saturday ahead of me and a bright future to look forward to. Just kidding. Because Die-ary, I have a feeling that things are going to get worse before they get better. Way worse.

Bye Die-ary!

Love Elly.


	4. love and painful beatings

Hello Die-ary!

Does Brian like me? It seems like he does. Oh, gosh, do I like him?

I guess I do. I mean, he's sweet and funny, and kind. he seems like the only person in my life that doesn't spend

all his time dumping on me like everyone else. He understands me and takes after my own soul. I bet you he feels misunderstood inside too. Bet you he would tell me if I asked. I guess I do like him. Everytime I see him I feel weird. I mean weird in a good way. And whenever we touch, it feels wonderful and amazing. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I feel... I feel... Love. I know it sounds weird, but for the first time in my life, I feel love. Loved and wanted. the two things I've never felt until now. So I confess Die-ary. I'm in love with Brian. I won't tell him. But I am. I really truly am. Now Die-ary, instead of filling you with sappy feelings, I will now tell you about my day.

Today is saturday, so I classically slept in. I woke up at twelve, remembering that Brian was going to take me to the mall. I rushed around, took a shower, rushed around soem more, and put on makeup. Than I stood in front of the mirror, wondering what to wear. I finally settled on something, but than changed it because I thought it looked stupid. I brushed my hair back. Why was I caring what I looked like all of the sudden? Usually I just sthrew something on, but now I was actually wondering what Brian would think when he saw me.

Brian rang the doorbell. He was nervous. That's odd. he thought. I'm usually never nervous around Lly. I can just be myself around her. She understands me. I like that about her. I like everything about her. I like her. A man opened the door and looked Brian up and down. He was tall and thin, with tousled and messy black hair and a scary look in his eyes. Brian flinched when he saw him. He had heard stories about the man who lived here. He still had trouble believing that this was Lly's dad. "Is Lly here?" he asked tentatively. The man raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?" he asked. "I'm Brian. I'm taking Lly to the mall today." The man nodded slowly, as if he took a while to digest what Brian was saying.

I heard the doorbell ring, so I scrambled like a madwoman to get there quickly. I tripped over my own clumsy feet and almost collided with Johnny. "Hi Brian." I said. My face flushed red from embarrassment. Brian smiled. That made me blush harder. I walked over to stand beside him and turned back to Nny. "Hey, we'll be back at..." I turned to Brian quizzicly. "Four?" Brian said. Only he said it more like a question directed at my father. Johnny nodded. I smiled happily. I was going to have a great time.

Devi put the car in reverse and coasted out the driveway. She was headed to the mall. It was the best mall in town, and a hot spot for every teenager. She knew she would find Elly there. "But what would I say?" Devi asked herself. "I'm sorry Lly, you're not an accident, let's go home?" No, that wouldn't work. "How about, I messed up, I'm sorry, don't live with Johnny, he'll kill you?" No, that wasn't it. Devi pondered hard over this. Usually she wasn't this... At a loss as to what to say. Her and Elly weren't that close, but she still never had to think about what to say to her. But then again, usually she only told her that she was an accident. And it was because she did this that got her into this whole mess.

"Just admit that you were scared and get it over with." I said, smiling. "I wasn't scared!" insisted Brian. "Uh huh, sure. You saw her coming with it and you freaked. I could see it in your eyes."

"I wasn't scared! I was just... tense."

"Oh, tense huh. Elly help me!"

Brian smiled. "I never said that."

"You were thinking it."

"So now your a mind reader?"

"Well at least it looks good", I finally settled. After two hours of wandering the mall and eating lunch, Brian had finally gotten his ear peirced. I made him a deal. If he got his ear peirced, I would die a streak of my hair red. "I only made that deal because you were chickening out." Brian stopped and looked at me. He touched the red streak in my hair. "That looks good on you." he said. Suddenly, a familiar song blared over the speakers in the mall. "I love this song!" said Brian happily. he grabbed me around the waist and spun me around. I laughed. the song ended in a couple of minutes. Brian looked at me in the eyes. His face was so close to mine. we both moved forward slowly, getting closer and closer. My eyes widened suddenly and I turned away from him. I hoped I hadn't seen what I just thought I saw. The person I had seen looked a lot like Devi. "Lly, what's wrong?" asked Brian. "Shhh, I'm not here." Brian turned around and searched for a second. "Hey, Lly, there's a lady over there and she kind of looks like y-" I pulled his head down. 'Brian, that's my mom!" His eyes widened too. "Yeah." I said. I pulled him into the space between two stores. He stood really close in fron tof me, blocking the view for my mother. I watched her veer closer and closer to our rather conspicuous hiding place. I saw her expression as she caught a tiny glimpse of my face. When she was about two feet away, my sanity left and my last resort entered. I pulled Brian in front of me. I pulled him really close and closed my eyes.

I threw my arms around him and kissed him. On the lips too! I pulled him so close that every part of me was touching him. And it wasn't a fast peck on the lips either. We were literally making out until she left. Once she left, I kind of pushed Brian away from me a little bit. His hair was tousled and messy and he had a shocked and pleased look on his face. We were silent for a second. "Lly." he finally mamaged to say. "Elly, what was that?"

"She's gone." I said.

Brian stared at me in a daze. I laughed a little. "I had to do something. she would've seen me if we hadn't...you know..." "Oh, I know." said brian. he sounded kind of like a hypnotized robot. I reached out and fixed his hair. I straightened the collar of his shirt and untangled his arm from my shirt. The cramped space we were crammed in seemed to have gotten smaller. brian was still staring at me like I had sprouted wings. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked him. he shook himself out of his daze. "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked past him. He was kind of standing in front of me and barring my exit. I looked at my watch. It was three fifty seven. "Brian." I said. "Are you gonna move any time soon?" he was in his robot daze again. "Yes." he said mechanically. I raised my eyebrows. "Oh!" he said, moving quickly out of my way. "Yes, yes, yeah." He let me out of the niche.

People stared at us strange as we walked hurriedly through the mall, searching for the exit. As we passed by a clothing store, I saw her. I sat down quickly on the nearest bench and pulled Brian on me again. I saw her advance from the store, so I pulled Brian closer. And he didn't just stand there dumbstruck like last time, this time he got into it. I finally saw her leave. I relaxed and went limp. Brian kept kissing me. I finally had to kind of pry him off me. This time he had a wild, crazy look in his eyes and a happy smile on his face. "Awww, how cute. Young love. it makes me kind of want to...puke!" My eyes widened as i heard Lana's stupid voice above us. She was standing there with her posse, three pampered, spoiled brats. "Lana." I said through gritted teeth. "That's my name, don't wear it out." she said in an evil tone of voice. "So Brian..." She started. "How long have you and Elly been...you know." Brian's face flushed scarlet. "N-nothing's happened between me and Elly." he stammered nervously. "Oh." said Lana. She opened up her cell phone and showed Brian a picture of me and him kissing. "Really now." she said. And then I ran for it.

Devi was sure she had seen Elly both of the times she ran into the girl. But she could have been wrong. Both of the times she had run into her, the girl always had some guy all over her. Could that have been Elly? No, Lly wouldn't act like that. Or would she? Devi was so withdrawn from her daughter, anything and everything could be happening. Before she knew it, Elly would be smoking pot in a motorcycle gang far away from here. And it would be all Devi's fault.

"That boy!" shouted Mr.Eff. "I can't believe this! you let her go somewhere with that boy! you know what happens when a girl and a guy go somewhere! They fall in love!" Johnny frowned. "The boy seemed nice. Lly seems to like him."

"Like him! how do you know they're not in love?!"

"What is up with you and love?"

Mr.Eff sighed. "She should be getting home any minute. You better look out the window and make sure they're not doing anything bad when they think you're not looking." Johnny rolled his eyes. But he stationed himself close to the window just in case.

"That picture's going to be all over school on monday!" I said angrily. Brian followed behind me, running to keep up with my angry strides. "Just ignore it." he said quickly, his own face flushed red with anger and embarrassment. "Ignore it? ignore it! How can I ignore it when photographic evidence of me liking you keeps staring me in the face?!" I clamped my hand over my mouth quickly and stopped. Brian bumped into me from behind, knocking me over. I twisted as I fell, knocking into Brian. We landed inthe grass on my lawn. Except I was kind of in his arms, laying onthe ground. You know... gosh, this sounds wrong, We landed with me on top of Brian. Laying on his chest. I looked into his eyes sheepishly and he laughed. I suddenly felt like there was someone behind me. I looked at Brian to see if he felt it too, but his eyes were frozen on something behind me. A large shadow hung over us both. Brian's smile died on his lips. he looked frightened. I turned around to see my father standing behind us. he had a frown fozen on his face, and his arms were folded in front of his chest. I rolled off Brian, who quickly said, "Elly, I have to go." and left.

My father's eyes followed Brian until he dissappeared. Than he turned his gaze on me. "Get up Elly." he commanded. He walked inside slowly. I followed, lookign down all the way. I shut the door behind me as I entered the house, ready for my father's explosion.

Johnny stormed angrily intot eh basement. Elly followed quietly behind him. He whirled around suddenly, making Elly jump. "Mr.Eff told me I shouldn't have let you go! Why didn't I listen to him?" Elly frowned. "Nny, nothing happened between us!" she shouted.

"Wow! Nothing sure is interesting!"

Elly shook with anger. "Yeah, the same nothing that happened between you and Devi." She muttered.

Johnny threw a knife suddenly. It startled Elly and barely missed her left ear. He grabbed Elly's wrist and held it tightly. He could tell it hurt her, so he tightened his grip and twisted her arm around, almost to the point of breakage. "Don't you ever even MENTION that again!" He shouted in her ear. He released his grip on her arm, thrusting her to the floor. She sat, silently rubbing her wrist. Johnny walked to the nearest table and threw everything off it. Than he overturned the table and yelled. His anger boiled oevr and he punched the wall. Blood and pain exploded all at once. Than he sat on the floor and covered his head with his hands. He began to cry slowly and silently. "What have I become?" he asked the sky.

I sat on the floor and rubbed my sore wrist. I really hoped it wasn't broken. It had made a small noise when Johnny twisted it, but not a loud enough snap to suggest it was broken. And when he had flung everything off the table and overturned it a sawblade scraped a gash in my leg and something sharp had flown over my right cheek, dripping blood on my wrist. I put my un-wounded arm ont he wall and used it to pull myself up off the floor. I limped slowly to where Johnny sat, crying sadly, using the wall for support. I sat down next to him. I reached out slowly and tentatively to put my hand on his back. I rubbed it softly, yet cautiously, just in case he sprang at me and tried to kill me again. he took his hands off his face slowly and looked at me. He quickly threw his arms around me in a hug. I buried my face in his chest. "I don't know what's happening to me." he whispered. Than I started to cry. My body shuddered as I was racked with sobs. Johnny stroked my hair silently. "I'm so sorry Lly." he whispered. "You and Devi-" He supressed a sob. "The best things that ever happened to me." I nodded as I cried. He held me and rocked me slowly. After a little while, I pulled myself out of his arms. His shirt was wet with my tears and the blood from my face. He didn't seem to care. He slowly and gently picked up my wrist and looked at it. I flinched and gasped in pain. "It's a bad sprain." he confirmed. I nodded and yawned. I lay my head in his lap and tried to lay down on the cold, stone floor. I can't even remember when I fell asleep.

Johnnys truggled to carry his sleeping fourteen year old daughter up the basement stairs to her bedroom. She was really heavy for someone that skinny. But it was the least he could do for spraining her wrist. He lay her gently on her bed and kissed her forehead. He turned around to see Mr.Eff right behind him. "Why did you do that?!" he shouted. "You could've killed her!" Johnny flinched. "What's it to you if she dies?" he asked angrily. Mr.Eff narrowed his eyes. "You, yourself tried to make her kill herself!" Mr.Eff sighed. "You know why she can't die. Don't deny it. Because I know you know it. You just don't want to admit it." He turned and left. Johnny put his hands on thw windowsill and hung his head. He did know. But with Mr.Eff trying to protect Elly, his worst fears had been confirmed.

And now, Dear Die-ary, I sleep. Sliced leg, bleeding face, sprained arm and all.

Love Elly.

P.S. I haven't cut myself since I got here.


	5. I begin to mastermind a murder

Dear Die-ary,

I am neither proper nor pristine. But I can sound like it if I speak in a British accent. That is how I am writing this right now.

Pronouncing every word I write in a British accent. I am strange. (in a normal voice) Stange and demented. And I hope

people can accept me the way I am. Hey everybody, come and make friends with an axe murderer! But stay on her good side, or she'll bury a knife in your throat faster than you can say, that freak just put a knife in my throat! It's a wonder how Brian can tolerate being friends with me. Friends with a serial killer.

"Yeah, my dad broke my arm in a fit of maniacal rage." I explained calmly to Brian. He started choking randomely. "Oh, I'm sorry, sprained." I corrected myself. I slapped his back and he stopped choking. He traced the scar on my face with his finger. "Did he do that too?" he asked. "By accident." I answered.

"Because of what happened?"

"Partially. The other half was my big mouth's fault."

"Lly!" Brian said quickly.

"Turn around."

My eyes widened as I whirled. A large poster sized picture of me and Brian making out at the mall was plastered on the wall.

"That little-" My eyes strayed to the poster next to it. It was for the upcoming freshman dance. My voice trailed off. I quickly left my seat to tear the poster down before a horde of hungry high schoolers bust through the cafeteria doors. I pulled it down just in time. I walked slowly back to my seat and sat down. Suddenly, Lana walked up and flopped down on Brian's lap. Brian raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hey Brian." she said in a flirty voice. I frowned, trying hard not to let my obvious anger show any more than it already did.

"Hey, Brian, the freshman dance is this friday. Will you go with me?" Brian looked at me questioningly.

"That is- if you and Elly aren't going together" Brian opened his mouth to protest, but Lana pressed her finger against his lips. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. He tried to pull away, but she pulled in closer. She ruffled his hair and moved his hand really low, so it looked like he was grabbing her butt. He kept trying to move back, but she pulled him closer every single time he did. She finally released him and got off of his lap. She walked bahind him and fingered his earring.

"Great. Pick me up at eight." she gave me an evil smile and left. Brian looked shocked and disgusted at the same time. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. Pick me up at eight. what a slut. But, being a girl, and obviously having feelings for Brian that I didn't even know I had, I couldn't control my emotions, and before I knew it, I had dumped my bottle of water over his head and stormed out of the cafeteria, blinded by tears. I took one last look back at Lana to see her laughing at me. She winked as I left. Brian looked shocked and upset (Besides being obviously dripping wet) as I left. But just this once, he did not follow me out.

I paced slowly around my victim. Johnny already killed someone earlier, but I was really angry and needed a way to vent my feelings. Johnny sat on an empty box of nails, watching me. This time my victim happened to be the biggest sexual harrasser in school, and he was just asking for it. He was tied to the wall upside down. his face was slowly turning purple. Even though I was really angry, I had to admit, it was kind of funny. I picked up a knife. "Look." I said. "I'm really angry right now, so if you take a big breath and savor your last moments of life, it'll all be over soon" I backed up to where Johnny sat. I threw the knife, envisioning Lana as the person the knife was headed at. Johnny watched thoughtfully, studying my technique. I went over to a table and grabbed a handful of knives. "Watch this." I said. "None of these are going to kill him." Johnny frowned. I turned with my back facing my victim. I threw them all, one by one. When I was done I looked at Johnny. He looked amazed. I turned around. My victim had every knife embedded in his chest, yet he was still breathing. I walked up to him. His eyes were glassy and he shuddered for breath as he choked on the blood that was dripping from his wounds into his mouth. I pulled a knife out of his chest and he groaned, spitting up blood. I put the knife near the wound it cam eout of and slit downward. His breathing grew shallow and slowed. I smiled. "This. Is. For. Lana." I slit his throat and his breathing stopped completely. The doorbell rang upstairs. Johnny started to get up, but I stopped him. I caught some of the blood that was dripping out of the fresh corpse and splashed it on my face and arms. "I'll get it." I said with an evil smile.

Brian rang the doorbell a second time. He was frightened because he didn't know how to explain all this to Lly. Lana was all the sudden all over him, and he didn't understand why. But he sure couldn't tell Lly how he really felt about her. He was in love with her. He only had eyes for her. He didn't want to go to the dance with Lana, he wanted to go with Lly. And when they kissed in the mall on saturday, that was the happiest day of his life. He lived only for Lly. He would die for Lly. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He loved everything about her, and the only reason he hadn't followed her out of the cafeteria was because everything had happened at once and he had still been trying to figure it all out. As soon as Lana had kissed him, he had felt an incredible feeling of revulsion. The door opened slowly and Lly stepped out, shaking Brian from his thoughts. She had a cold look in her eyes.

"Elly!" Brian said happily. He gave her a big hug, not caring that she was covered in blood.

I shoved Brian off me. "What do you want?" I asked angrily.

"Elly, I don't know what happened. She just-"

"I understand." I said.

"Y-you do?" Brian stammered. "Elly, to tell you the truth-"

I slammed the door on him. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say!" I shouted. Brian pounded on the door.

"Lly!" he shouted. "Lly, Lly, I'm in..." he sank down on the doorstep and put his head in his hands.

"I'm in love with you." he whispered. Brian knew that if Lly was mad at him now, she would ignore him for the rest of the week. He stood up and pounded on the door.

"You know what, Fine!" he shouted.

"Stay mad at me! I don't care! I'll just go to the dance with Lana!"

And with that, Brian stormed off. He walked angrily back to his house. He slammed the door upon entry, Startling his mom. She was a quiet woman, named Tess. Something had happened to her a long time before she had met Brian's dad, and she never talked about it. All he knew was that it had been traumatic to her. She worried about him a lot. She ran up to see him as soon as the door slammed, using her motherly senses to sense something was wrong.

"Brian is that blood? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" Tess put her hand on his forehead. Brian gently took it off.

"Yeah mom, I'm fine." he replied. Tess breathed a sigh of relief.

"Girls make me so angry!" he exclaimed.

"What is it, Brian?" asked Tess. "You can tell me anything."

"Well," started Brian. "There's this girl. She's like my best friend, but I really, really like her. I want us to be more than friends. And today this other girl comes up to me and gets all over me, and now my best friend hates me and thinks I like the other girl."

Tess frowned. "Oh, no, Brian." she said. "Not that Elly girl. Is it?" Brian nodded slowly.

"I-I'm in love with Elly." Tess gasped.

"Brian, love is a powerful emotion. Are you sure you just don't like her a lot?"

Brian shook his head. "It's love." he said. Tess put her hand on her only son's shoulder gently, hoping he was right in finding what she couldn't. "Go for it. Love is precious. I don't approve of this Elly girl, but if you love her, go for it."

Brian smiled. "Thanks mom." he said, leaving quickly.

Tess stood in the hall by herself thinking. Elly looked really familiar to her. There was something about her that reminded her of.... No. She didn't want to relive it. She had spent all her time trying to bring Brian up to be nothing like the idiots that she had encountered all her life. Something about Elly troubled her though, she frowned and turned away, trying to just shrug it off.

I stormed up to my room angrily. Pyscho Doughboy followed followed me.

"Does this boy make you upset?" he asked.

'Now he does."

"Kill him."

"I can't. it's not as easy as it seems...." My voice shrank to a whisper. "To kill the one you love."

I looked up suddenly. "I won't kill him." I said. "I'll kill Lana instead. She deserves it more than anything else." I smiled. "Thank you for the brilliant idea."

Pyscho Doughboy smiled. "Here to help." he said.

Things were looking brighter for me. So my problem was resolved. Now I was officially planning for the murder of Lana M.

So Die-ary, with the freshman dance this coming friday, I have to go three days without a friend. It also means that I have only three days to mastermind a murder. It won't take me long because I murder constantly and will probably have to murder more this week to preserve my precious nerves.

Love Elly.


	6. An expiration date

Dear Die-ary,

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be the kid at school that has no friends? The kid who sits alone and looks uncomfortable and sad all the time? I knew how it felt prior to this experience, but it never hurt this bad. I could tell Brian felt the same way. Whenever I would turn away from him he would stare longingly at me. Not once at all did Lana come and talk to him. But I had other things on my mind. I had a murder to commit and I needed to be ready.

I paced slowly, running my fingers through my hair. I was losing my mind! I was going crazy! I was becoming a

freakin' schizophrenic! PyschoDoughboy watched me as I paced.

"Not so easy is it?" he asked me. I turned around with a wild and crazy look in my eye.

"No!" I shouted, pointing at him. "It's driving me crazy! I am losing my mind!" I was pretty sure I was foaming at the mouth

when I made that last lovely remark. He smiled and gave a twisted, evil little laugh. I turned around with my fists clenched.

"Are you mocking me?!" I shouted. I ran at him. He stood there happily, knowing I couldn't really hurt him if I wanted to. I stopped halfway and panted. "Alright, calm down Elly." I said to myself.

"Calm down. You've murdered before, not like it's new to you, right? It's no big deal. Besides, it's Lana, someone you've been itching to kill since you met her. It'll be easy. Oh. Oh, no. I'm talking to myself in a loud and unnatural manner. I feel weird about killing Lana. This must mean... I have a conscience!"

Johnny opened the door behind me and came in. I threw my hands into the air.

"I didn't do it! I'm innocent!" Johnny laughed.

"It's only me." I turned around to face him.

"You scared the crap out of me!" I said.

"Ready for friday?" he asked me.

"What if I get caught?"

"You're not going to get caught. I never do."

"Well, I'm not you. What if I do?"

"Than I'm not bailing you chose to do this, it's your responsibility."

I bit my bottom lip nervously....

Devi shook. She was sick and tired of living in fear of Johnny. She was so fed up with the nightmares and the pain. She had wasted years and years of being afraid and now it was time to be brave. She was going to claim Elly on friday. She was tired of playing the part of the worried and terrified mother and now she was turning the tables. She was going to take what was rightfully hers. Had Johnny ever been there once for Elly? No, but then again, neither had Devi. She quickly made a mental note to be a better parent. This aside, Devi felt wonderful. She was going to bring back Elly. She wasn't going to have the nightmares and the fear anymore. And for this, Devi was excited. For the first time in a long time.

Lana smiled evilly. She had loved the look on Elly's face when she had thrown herself at Brian. She lived to make people feel like the losers that they truly were inside. And Elly was her greatest triumph. She only did what she did to see how Elly would react, and now that she got that satisfaction, she was done using Brian. Ahh. Her life was perfect. She couldn't wait for friday when she could flaunt Brian in Elly's face again. Besides, once she angered Elly enough to make her leave, or better yet kill herself, she would make a big scene and "break up" with Brian. It was good to be her.

I picked up the dress I'd be wearing to the dance. It was a poofy red and black plaid halter that went to my knees and bunched up at the bottom. I smiled happily. I ripped off th epoofy, bunched up part to reveal a straight pencil skirt with pockets in it to hold my weapons of murder. This plan was foolproof. Lana wouldn't know what hit her. Actually, she would. I mean, you do see the person who kills you. And I was planning to draw out this murder and make it last. And I was especially going to enjoy every last second of it. I was going to reflect on all the pain she caused me, and I was going to laugh at her pain, the way she laughed at mine. I wanted this so bad, I could already see her blood on my freshly cleaned knives.

"Man, if you knew how much she deserved this..." I said to Johnny. He sat, watching me with a thoughtful look on his face. He nodded slowly. My arm was slowing me down majorly. It was in a cloth splint, but it was still heavy. Johnny scooted over to where I sat and gently picked up my arm. He unwrapped my splint and examined my wrist carefully.

"Still hurts." I said.

"It should be better by friday." he said.

"It needs to be better by friday." I nodded. He finally wrapped it back up when he was done looking at it.

"You know, I could always chop it off." he said. I laughed.

"No thank you." I answered. "I still need it for friday."

Mr. Eff paced impatiently. Pyscho doughboy finally sauntered into the room.

"Where were you?" asked Mr. Eff "I called this meeting ten minutes ago!"

"I get here when I'm good and ready." Pyscho Doughboy replied.

"Anyway." said Mr. Eff "I think you know why I called this meeting."

Pyscho Doughboy nodded.

"It's getting restless" he said.

Mr. Eff pointed at a couple of bloodstains underneath the wall. "It's starting to reject blood. It's cravings will grow stronger and stronger until it rejects all. it will only take hers. And if it doesn't get hers, it will get out. The day we spoke of long ago is near. Very near. Next week near. Tomorrow is friday. Elly will die next thursday."

Die-ary, tonight I go to bed, trembling with excitement. Tomorrow is friday. The night of the dance, but more importantly, the night of the murder of Lana M. The night that will finally put a temporary end to my misery. Let's put it this way, the complete and final end of my Lana misery. Until tomorrow,

Love Elly


	7. Lana, Murder, and an unexpected visit

Dear Die-ary,

How do I know all that I know? I don't know. I know that you know that you think I know what I know. But I don't. I don't know what it is I know that you think I know that I don't. I don't know anything about what you know that you think I know that I don't. I don't even know what we're talking about anymore. I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you knew all along that I'm crazy. And I agree with you. That, I do know.

My nerves are on the ritz this morning. I jumped twelve feet in the air this morning when the first period bell rang. In all the classes that I have with Brian, he spends the whole hour and fourty minutes staring at me. He tried to sit with me in the cafeteria like we normally sit, but I moved away. Lana only bothered him to remind him that he had to pick her up. she waited until I was watching and then tried to tell him three words as flirty as she possible could. she makes me vomit. She winked and waved at me as she walked by.

"See you at the dance tonight Elly." she said. She had stopped next to me as I took things out of my locker. I turned to her with a smirk/fake smile plastered to my face. "I will see you at the dance tonight." I said.

"I hope you have fun tonight. Enjoy every second of it." She looked at me with a confused smile crossed with a look of suspicion stuck to her face like the last of the garden salad she had viciously devoured at lunch. Trying to lose weight. What crap.

"I will." she said with narrowed eyes. than she stalked off. I slammed my locker shut.

"I sure will." I said happily, adding an evil smile for special effects. I leaned against my locker and hugged my book to my chest. My evil smile grew wider. The world was falling into perfect order. A skinny redheaded nerd opened the locker next to mine. He stared at me with a frightened look on his face. I tousled his hair and walked off, spinning in circles and scaring countless other people, most that I don't even know, and probably gave a horrible first impression to. I looked back to see that the nerd looked like he was going to die of fright and probably already wet his pants. But I didn't care if people stared at me or looked at me funny, or even were scared of me. All I care about are my plans for tonight.

Devi looked at the clock nervously. It was seven thirty. She figured she'd go at about ten thirty. She was still trying to work up the courage to even look at the car keys, let alone drive the car. And it wasn't the bringing Elly home part that worried her. It was the seeing Johnny part. It had been fourteen years for goodness sakes! Last time she saw him, he had tried to kill her too. Would he try to kill her again? Devi didn't care. Johnny could do whatever he wanted to her, she just had to make things right with Elly. And she was going to. When she left her house in three hours and thirty minutes.

Brian straightened his bowtie in the mirror. He sighed as he saw his reflection.

"You sure clean up nicely." Tess teased as she came in. She straightened his bowtie again.

"You taking Elly to the dance?" she asked. Brian shook his head.

"No." he replied. "I'm actually taking Lana. I wish I was taking Elly."

Tess nodded. "You better get going. It's almost eight." Brian sighed.

"Bye mom." he said. Tess kissed him on the cheek.

"Be careful Brian." she said. "I love you."

"Love you too." said Brian, walking out the door.

I marveled at my reflection in the mirror. As much as I hated to admit it, I looked great. The apron under my skirt was filled with tools of murder. I even made a list of everything. Knives, check, rope, check, saw blades, check, hammer, check, knives, check, check, check. I was ready. I stepped out of the bathroom and walked to the front door. Johnny walked up to me.

"You look beautiful Lly." he said. I smiled.

"Thanks." I said.

"Got everything you need?"

"I'm ready for anything."

"Have a great night". he said, opening the front door. I left and took a big breath of fresh air.

"Hello party, goodbye Lana." I said, beginning my short walk to school.

The doorbell rang. Lana put a small tiara in her hair and walked down the grand spiral staircase of her mansion. She knew Brian was at the door. What a loser. She was going with him, but she knew she was going to end the night with her fabulous jock boyfriend, Nicky. He was actually her boyfriend, but the scheme to upset Elly had happened so fast. She watched her father open the door and usher Brian into the foyer. She made her entrance happily, flaunting her wealth in his face. Brian took her arm without a word and led her out the door. Thankfully her mansion was situated close enough to school that they could walk. Brian walked slowly without conversation. They got to the school in about seven minutes. Brian led Lana into the brightly lit cafeteria. Couples danced to the music that was blasting from giant speakers arranged on the stage. Lana folded her arms and stood there.

"I'm gonna go get some punch." said Brian, leaving quickly.

Brian wove quietly and silently through the crowd. He finally spotted Elly and ran towards her.

"Lly!" he said happily, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Brian!" she said, turning to him with a happily smile. He opened his arms wide and she gave him a hug. "I thought you were angry at me" he said when they stood back.

"I'm over it." she said. "I wish I was here with you instead of Lana." Elly blushed. "Don't worry." she said.

"Lana's leaving early...." Brian frowned. Something about that sentence sounded like Elly was planning something. Brian shook it off. "Oh, Brian!" came a voice. "Oh, no." groaned Brian. Lana walked up to them.

"Isn't he too cute?" she asked, pinching his cheeks. Brian looked at Elly desperately. She nodded.

I understood Brian's desperateness. Besides, I needed to find a way to get Lana into the girl's bathroom. I picked up the punchbowl and dumped it over Lana's head. She released Brian's face and shook with anger.

"You (blankety) (blank) Idiot!" she said. I smiled. All eyes were on us.

"Yeah." I said. "That's me." Brian looked gratefully at me. Lana gave a little shriek of anger and stalked off to the girl's bathroom. I smiled. Everyone went back to dancing. I followed slowly and silently behind Lana, ready to do what I've wanted to do since I met her.

Shawnee sighed. Today was the worst day of her life. Her parents died in a car crash when she was eight and her foster family treated her like crap. She just found out ten minutes ago that her boyfriend was cheating on her. She stood, huddled in a stall in the girl's bathroom contemplating suicide. Lana stomped in, drenched in punch. Shawnee opened the door of the stall a crack to see what was going on. Lana was the It girl at this school. The one everyone idolized and hated to want to be like. Shawnee looked up to her, even though she plainly didn't like her. Shawnee wondered who would've had the nerve to dump punch on her. And than, suddenly, the lights went out, leaving them in blackness.

Stupid, dumb lights. I thought. Well, at leastr it gave me the pleasure of surprising Lana. When the lights came back on, they were dimmer and lit the room with an eerie reddish glow. Lana saw me and shook with anger again.

"What are you in doing here?!" she shouted out. "I hope you know, I took Brian from you on purpose, just to make you feel bad. I love to flaunt my life in front of you because I know yours sucks. And, I'm mean like that. All I'm trying to tell you, Elly, is this: commit suicide. Nobody likes you, and quite frankly, everyone wants you die. But everyone's just too nice to say it to your face. So, just leave okay. Go die. Bye, loser. Even Brian doesn't like you. He's just befriending you because he feels sorry for hates you see! Especially--"

her voice cut off abruptly. She had turned her back on me to go to the electric hand dryer while she was talking , and now there was a knife in her back. She had fallen on the ground and lay there, breathing and still alive. I walked up to her and crouched down so that I was at her eye level. I grabbed her by the hair and raised her head to look at me.

"Never turn your back on your enemy." I said. I pulled her up by the hair and pulled out my knife. She shuddered. Her eyes were glassy. I threw her against the bathroom wall and walked towards her.

"I should commit suicide." I told her. "But I'm uncertain how to do it. Should I slit my wrists?" I grabbed her wrist and slit it. Blood exploded all over the bathroom wall.

"Tempting." I said.

"W-why are you doing this?" she asked weakly.

I sat down on the bathroom floor. "Hmmm, let me think. I'm a serial killer, I guess you could say. And, what better way to tell someone you hate them, than to kill them?" I stood up slowly. "You've caused me so much pain." I said, an angry edge in my voice. "Now it's time for me to return the favor."

I walked back until I was at a safe throwing distance. I pulled a saw blade out of one of the pockets of my apron. I threw it and it slashed across Lana's stomach. She screamed. My eyes widened.

"Oops, I almost forgot." I crossed over to her side of the room and duct taped her mouth shut.

"That's better." I said. I pulled out another knife and looked at her.

"Let's think of why I hate you." I said. "You're rich." I stabbed her in the chest. "You're spoiled, conceited, and vain" A slash on the arm for each of those. "Mean, stupid, and worthless." three more stabs to the chest. "And, lastly, you stole Brian from me." For that I slit her throat, silencing her instantly.

"And those are my final words" I said, standing up.

There was blood all over the walls, smeared on the mirrors. A stall was covered in blood, as if Lana had exploded all over it. The floor was a dark red, and blood ran into a drain in the middle. There was a sink halfway filled with blood and a red river was running under all the stalls. I wiped the blood off my face and arms and left the bathroom. Brian stood neazr the bathroom as if he had been waiting for me. He looked around and then walked up to me. "Seeing as Lana's gone, may I have this dance?" a slow song started to play and Brian extended his hand. I took it slowly.

"Eeew." said Brian, letting go of my hand. "Elly, what's on your--"

Brian looked at his hands. "Oh, Elly, what have you done this time?"

He grabbed my hand and showed me the palm. Oops, guess I should've washed my hands.

"Is this blood?" he asked me. I looked down at my feet, which had all of the sudden become so interesting.

"Elly?" asked Brian. I looked up sheepishly.

"Possibly." I said.

Shawnee shook with terror. She had just witnessed a murder. She felt queasy all of the sudden and bent over the toilet in the stall, emptying the contents of her stomach into it. When she was done vomiting she wiped her mouth on her arm. Blood covered the front of her stall and ran under it, getting on her shoes. Her face was streaked with blood and was as white as a ghost. She stumbled out of the stall and slid on the bloodied floor. Lana's dead body lay in the corner, blood still flowing freely out of it. Shawnee took a deep, shuddery breath and burst out of the bathroom. All eyes were on her.

"Lana was just murdered in the bathroom!" came the shout. The girl pointed at me with a shaky finger.

"And she did it!" I looked around with a frightened look on my face. I started to pant. Brian stepped in front of me defensively.

"Elly would never do anything like that!" he shouted. I was very grateful for his giant lie.

"I saw her do it!" shouted the girl.

Lana's boyfriend darted into the girl's bathroom. He came out a moment later.

"She's right." he said. "Call 9-1-1! Lana's dead!" He shouted in disbelief. The girl stared at me with hate and fear in her eyes. She turned around and threw up all over the floor. Her dress and face were streaked with blood. When she was finished she pointed at me again. "I was in the stall the whole time. I saw it happen. Elly killed Lana."

I looked up in panic. Brian studied the front of my skirt. He spotted the pocket and grabbed a knife out of it. He threw it with perfect prescision at the giant light switch. It struck true and the lights went out. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the cafeteria.

Devi took a deep breath and parked the car. She shook as she opened the door. She almost fell as she stumbled, in a daze to the front door. She quivered, and ever so slowly, rang the doorbell. She waited. All of the sudden, two people collided with her at the exact same time as Johnny's front door opened.

"Devi?" he asked with a shocked look on his face.

"Mom?" asked one of the people on the ground.

"Elly?" asked both Johnny and Devi at the same time.

Brian raised his hand slowly. "Brian." he said. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Everyone get inside." said Johnny, ushering them into the house.

Me and Brian stood in the dimly lit kitchen. Devi huddled up against the cabinets in fear. Johnny stood in the center of us.

"lly, what are you doing home so early?" he asked. I looked up at Brian. He bit his lip.

"Can I tell you later?" I asked.

"Whatever." he replied. Devi watched us with terrified eyes.

"Devi." said Johnny, turning towards her. She flinched.

"Fourteen years. it's been so long." there was a sad and faraway look in his eyes, like he wanted to embrace her.

Johnny turned his gaze back to us. Devi looked down at her feet. I crossed over to her.

"Lly." warned Brian. Johnny raised an eyebrow, studying Brian. "You two talk." I said.

I pulled Devi aside. "What do you want?" I asked her.

"Elly, I'm so sorry. Please come home." she said.

I shook my head. "No." I said.

"I can't. You made it plain enough that you didn't want me there last time."

Devi looked at me with tears in her eyes. But I didn't stop. I was on a roll now.

"I'm an accident, rememeber? I'll never be anything else. Well, you were wrong. Because your little accident is somebody now. Your little accident has friends that she never had before. Your little accident knows who she is now. She feels loved and wanted, two things she never, ever felt living with you. Here." I thrust my cutting knife at her.

"Your little accident hasn't cut herself since she got here, and she felt she had to living with you."

I showed her all the scars on my arms.

"Yeah." I said. "I think you've done enough damage."

I walked back over to Brian.

"Hey mom." I said. "Remember Brian?" I asked. Before she could answer, I pulled Brian on me and we started making out again. I let him go after about three minutes and left the room, walking away quickly. Brian was left in the kitchen with my parents. His hair was tousled and messy and his bowtie was crooked. Devi and Johnny both stared at him.

'Your daughter..." He said with a happy smile on his face. He stared straight ahead, in his robot trance again.

"I know." said Johnny, in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Do you think I'm incapable of supporting her?" asked Johnny.

"It's not that." said Devi quickly.

"Oh, I get it now." said Johnny. "You think I'm teaching her to murder."

Devi nodded slowly.

"Oh, I'm not teaching her." Devi sighed happily. "...Anymore." finished Johnny.

"Oh, you should've seen her. took to it fast."

Devi sat down and put her head in her hands sadly. "This is all my fault." she said.

"I shouldn't have let this happen."

Johnny sat down next to her and patted her back reassuringly.

"Umm, I'm gonna go find Lly." Brian said, who had obviously been standing there the whole time, listening.

I walked over to the wall and ran my fingers through my hair. I heard a dripping sound and a loud growl shook the floor. Hmm. that's weird. I thought. I ran my finger through a puddle of blood on the floor. I heard a sound behind me and I wiped my finger on my skirt. Brian stood back, looking at the wall. I got up and walked over to him.

"Hey." he said, turning to look at me. "You left me."

"I'm sorry." I apologized. "I couldn't stand being down there with Devi. Did I make them mad?"

Brian smiled. "Yeah you did." he said. I laughed and it got quiet suddenly. Brian finally broke the silence.

"Did you really kill Lana?" he asked. I smiled and nodded. His face got pale. We were silent again. He walked over to where I stood.

"You know, I never got that dance." he said. I smiled. I put my hand in his and we danced slowly. I hoped that moment would never end.

"So it's settled. She'll live here." Johnny said.

"I didn't agree to that." argued Devi.

"Well, she plainly doesn't want to live with you." pointed out Johnny. "And besides, she can't leave anyway." Devi frowned. She stood up quickly. Johnny grabbed her wrist and held it tightly.

"I'm dead serious." he said.

"I have to go." said Devi, trying to pry Johnny's fingers off her wrist.

"Than you'll go without Elly." he commanded.

"Let me go."

"Leave without Elly."

"I can leave as soon as you let me go."

Johnny thrust her wrist down, throwing her to the floor. She rubbed her wrist and Johnny's eyes widened. He was instantly taken back to about a week ago when his daughter was the one sitting on the floor rubbing her sprained wrist. He remembered what the fight had been about. He quickly ran over to where Devi sat. He gently held her wrist and examined it.

"At least it's not sprained." he said quietly.

"Why would it be sprained?" asked Devi.

"Well," Johnny started. "I kind of flipped out over something Lly did and, before you know it--"

"Wait- you sprained her wrist?!"

Johnny sat with his back against the wall next to Devi. "Face it." he said. "We're terrible parents." Devi gave a little laugh and leaned back against the wall. "At least you never told her that she was an accident and everyone hated her."

"Oh, you are terrible." he said. Devi yawned. "I'm sorry." she said. "I haven't gotten sleep in weeks. I've been worried sick about Lly." Johnny yawned too. "It's contagious." he said around his yawn. Devi laughed.

Brian twirled me one last time. We both stared out the window. The stars were out and the night was perfect. Brian stood behind me and put his arms around my waist. I smiled and leaned my head back on his chest. He put his head on my shoulder. I closed my eyes. Any moment with Brian was perfect. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw PyschoDoughboy slide up next to me.

"Go away." I whispered.

"What?" asked Brian

"Get out of here!" I shouted. PyschoDoughboy laughed and left. Brian let go of me and left the room. I ran after him.

"Wait, Brian! I wasn't talking to you, I was--" Brian stood in front of me, staring at something. He put his finger to his lips and pointed. I followed his hand. Johnny was asleep with his back to the wall. He had his arm around Devi. Devi was asleep also and her head was laying on Johnny's chest. Brian smiled and we both left the house quietly. Brian looked at his watch.

"Oh, my gosh, Lly it's three thirty!"

"No way!" I said, grabbing his arm to look at his watch. Suddenly, a police car drove down the street. I turned my face away from the flashing lights.

"Hey, kids!" shouted a cop. "Isn't it a little late to be out?"

Brian smiled. "We're going home officer." he said. the cop nodded. "Be careful. Some girl murdered another girl in the bathroom at the freshman dance and she's still on the loose." Brian's eyes widened.

"Do you know who did it?" he asked quickly.

"We think so." the cop answered. "Some chick named Elly."

Brian looked at me. I had my head turned away.

"We're going to question her further tomorrow. Almost everyone there thinks that Elly did do it."

Johnny opened his eyes. Had he seriously fallen asleep? He had his arm around Devi. Her head was on his chest and she was asleep. He stroked her hair for a second. She groaned and got up. Elly bust through the door and looked out the window nervously. Devi got off the floor and walked over to her. "Hey, I'm gonna leave you here now." she said.

"Your gonna live here until me and your father can work something out." she kissed Elly on the forehead and left. Elly ran as far back as she could get from the front door and started panting.

"Lly what's wrong?" he asked her.

"Wanna know why I was home so early?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Nny." she said, her voice trembling.

"I got caught."

"You what?!" he shouted.

"I got caught" I said. "The police are looking for me. They're going to come here tomorrow and question me."

He turned around and sighed. "Than your hopeless." he said.

"So what do I do?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I can't help you with this"

"You were the one that taught me! Help, Please!"

"Your on your own now. Goodnight."

Without thinking, I grabbed a knife and threw it at him. It lodged in his shoulder blade and he yelled in pain. He twisted around, grabbing it and pulling it out. His cold, dark eyes fixed on me, and I saw them fill with rage and hate. I stood up and ran, tripping over my heels. I could hear him running behind me. I heard the table tip over and crash against the wall. I skidded and ran into the next room. A butcher knife flew past me and stuck in the doorframe. I screamed. I ran through the house until I hit a dead end. I pressed my back against the wall in desperation. Johnny skidded into the room with two knives. He threw one that hit my arm, and I slid down the wall in pain. The second one bounced off the wall near my throat. He came so close to me that I could feel his breath on my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying hard not to cry because of the pain. He twisted the knife in my arm and pulled it downwards, cutting my arm open, revealing a pale white bone through the blood and flesh. I screamed in agony. I opened my eyes and saw him standing over me. He had me pinned against the wall with his arms so I couldn't leave.

"I warned you." he said through gritted teeth. He held the second knife above my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut again, waiting for the knife to plunge into my heart and silence my suffering instantly. But instead he lowered it and slashed me diagonally across the stomach. He turned and threw the knife against the wall and left. The knife bounced off the wall and scraped across my shin. So there I sat, cut up and bleeding all over the floor, scared to death about what was going to happen next.

"Once again, you've singlehandedly almost killed her!" shouted .

"She hit me in the shoulder with a knife!" pointed out Johnny.

"Calm down." said Nailbunny. "Besides, the girl only has a couple days left."

Johnny's eyes widened.

And so, Die-ary that was my day. Scary. Sure I can live with myself after killing Lana, I'm just terrified for tomorrow.

Goodnight die-ary. like I'm gonna get any sleep.

Love Elly


	8. Impending jailtime and Brians confession

Dear Die-ary,

I am absolutly terrified. I don't usually get scared, but than I've never gotten caught before. All my feelings are being jumbled like a washing machine. I didn't sleep at all last night, and my arm stings where Johnny sliced it open. I pretty much anticipate getting thrown in jail. Oh gosh, what if they put me in the electric chair? I can't die! Not yet, at least. There is still so much I need to do, so much I need to see!

Brian headed to the door quickly.

"Brian?" asked Tess. Brian put his hand on the doorknob.

"Brian, I heard that last night your date was murdered in the girl's bathroom. Everyone thinks that Elly did it."

Brian gulped. he should've known this was coming.

'You came home at three last night. Do you know anything about it?" Brian shook his head slowly. He started to sweat. Before Tess could say anything else, Brian flung open the door and took off running to Lly's house. As soon as he got there, he flung open the door and went in.

"Lly?" he asked.

Elly shuffled down looking dissheveled. Her eyes were red and puffy and she had a huge gash on her arm that hadn't been there the day before.

"Elly are you okay?" he asked, rushing to her side.

She was still wearing her dress from the night before, but there was a big slit in the stomach and it was covered in dried blood. He hugged her tightly, holding her close to him. He could tell that she was crying by the way that she shuddered.

"Oh, Brian." she said. "I'm so scared." Brian held her closer.

"It's going to be okay." he comforted.

Johnny stalked down the stairs and walked past them. He walked stiffly over to an over turned table and flipped it right side up. He shot Brian daggers from across the room. He went into the next room and ripped a large butcher knife out of the doorframe. Brian noticed that there was a large gash in Johnny's shoulder. Johnny stared at Brian with an angry look. Brian held Elly closer still, as if he could protect her by holding her.

"Elly, get dressed." commanded Johnny.

Elly lifted her head out of Brian's chest and shuffled miserably away, leaving Brian alone with Johnny.

Johnny walked around Brian in circles. There was something about him that made Johnny feel like Brian was untrustworthy. Brian shrank back and looked scared.

"So, your my daughter's best friend, are you?" he asked.

Brian nodded slowly. Johnny walked up to the table and pulled up two chairs.

"Please." he said. "Sit."

Brian sat right across from him. Johnny put his feet up on the table and pulled out a knife. Brian's eyes grew bigger out of fear. Johnny held the knife in front of his face and inspected it. Brian's eyes warily followed the knife. Johnny suddenly stood up and and pushed the knife in front of Brian's face.

"Can you tell me--does this look clean?" he asked.

Brian gulped. Sweat started forming on his face. Johnny turned around so that his back was facing Brian. Than he turned to face him quickly and plunged the knife into the center of the table. He laughed at the expression on Brian's face and how he had managed to jump five feet in the air sitting down.

I walked into the kitchen slowly. "Nny, stop scaring him." I said.

Johnny gave me an angry look. He turned around and pointed at his gash on his shoulder blade.

"Look what you did." he said, a cold hard edge in his voice.

I stood up and walked over to him.

"Look what you did."

I pulled up my sleeve and showed him my horrid, self-stitched arm. That's right, people, when you get a cut that big and you don't have a hospital to go to, you're gonna wanna suture it yourself. So that's what I did. It looked like something you would see in a horror movie. the thread was dark blue. Some icky gunk was oozing out of it, so I obviously didn't do a very good job. I also showed him the slit on my stomach, which wasn't as deep, so I just let it bleed all over the floor and didn't bother trying to stop it. That little bloodbath may be the reason I'm so pale today. Brian's eyes pretty much bugged out of his head. The doorbell rang suddenly, shattering our beautiful father-daughter moment. Brian started forward, but I held out my hand to stop him. I took a deep breath and put a fake smile on. I opened the door to see a detective-looking person and two cops standing on my doorstep.

"Hello officers." I said. "Can I help you with something?"

"Detective Benson." said the detective guy. he flipped out an official looking badge. Him and the police officers pushed past me and into Johnny's house.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked.

"Were you at the dance last night?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I went with Brian, but we came home early."

"And why is that?" he asked, rubbing his finger through some dust on the counter.

I walked up to him and made eye contact. "Sir, why do all teenagers come home from anywhere early?" I lifted my eyebrows and winked at him. He seemed unimpressed with my huge lie.

"Have you ever known a girl named Lana?"

"I think so. Was she the one I used to mountain climb with?"

"Have you ever wanted or aspired to kill her at all?"

"Sir, I would never hurt a fly."

"Not according to Shawnee."

My eyes widened. "Oh, she's just jealous because me and Brian are getting married and she's single and alone."

Detective Benson looked at me skeptically and than nodded to the police. They both took one of my arms behind my back and handcuffed me.

"Now, your just being silly." He said. 'I'm taking you down to the station and I'm gonna ask you a couple questions. All the evidence points to you though. Don't get your hopes up. Take her away."

The police officers carted me off to their snazzy looking car.

"Elly!" shouted Brian, springing after me. Detective benson caught him by the arm, and dragged him roughly away from the door.

"I'm gonna have to ask you two to come to the station as well." he said, nodding at Brian and Johnny.

"Come with me."

Devi answered the door quickly. She was just about to leave to go to Johnny's so she could talk to Elly and sort things out with Johnny. A detective held up a badge and let himself into Devi's apartment.

"Detective Benson." he said.

"Are you related to Elly.C?" he asked.

Devi nodded. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm going to have to ask you to come with me m'am." he said.

"Why-what happened?" Devi asked. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's happening."

Detective Benson sighed. "We think Elly committed a murder." he said.

Devi's eyes widened.

I had to stop myself from ripping Shawnee's throat out with my teeth when I saw her sitting in a chair in the police station. Brian, Johnny, and Devi also sat there, but I was the only one handcuffed.

"Um, I don't think it's fair that I'm the only one handcuffed here." I said.

"Shut up." said Detective Benson. "Now, you're all here for a reason." he said. "i'm going to question you all individually about what happened that night. Johnny first."

Johnny sat in the uncomfortably small interrogation room.

"So, sir." started Detective Benson. "Where were you yesterday night?"

"Home." he answered.

"Did your daughter really go to the dance with that Brian kid?"

Johnny nodded.

"And they came home early?"

Johnny nodded again.

"Do you know if there's any reason as to why Elly would murder Lana?"

"No." answered Johnny. "Because Elly didn't do it."

Detective Benson frowned. "How good is your family life?"

Johnny laughed heartily. "You're kidding, right?"

Detective Benson frowned. Johnny stopped laughing. "Why would you ask that?"

Detective Benson sighed. "Some kids murder if they have bad family problems, like divorce or something. Messes kids up. I've seen a lot of good kids go that way. You and Devi divorced?"

"Huh?"

"You and Devi. Are you divorced?"

"We were never married."

Detective Benson's eyebrows shot into his hair practically.

"Oh. Okay. Next." he said.

Brian sat back in his chair. Detective Benson paced in front of him.

"Why did you come home early from the dance!" he shouted, whirling on Brian. Brian flinched, flipping backwards in his chair, which fell to the ground with a crash. Brian got up, rubbing his back.

"Um," he stuttered, fumbling around in his mind for a lie.

"We were getting bored at the dance so we went to her house and, yeah..."

Detective Benson shook his head and frowned.

"You came home from the dance and-"

"You know. Had a little bit of fun. Yeah..." said Brian quickly. Brian knew he was going to regret saying that.

Detective Benson sighed sadly. "What is america coming to? non-married couples having children, and their children having one night stands at fourteen." he said to himself quietly. "That's all?" he asked.

Brian nodded.

"And you didn't leave Elly alone at all that night?"

Brian shook his head.

"Do you have any reason to believe that Elly would do anything like this?"

Brian frowned. "No, Elly wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Are you sure? Did Elly hate Lana? Were they enemies at school?"

Brian thought for a second. "Well, Lana did chew us out a bit." he said. "She's been bullying me since third grade. Elly-she's new here and her and Lana don't knwo eachother too well. I know they did have a couple fights and a couple rumors were spread, but I don't think Elly would have any cause or desire to kill her."

Detective Benson nodded knowingly.

I watched Brian walk back to where he had been sitting next to me.

"What did you tell him?" I whispered.

Brian sat down and stared straight ahead.

"Lly." he whispered through the side of his mouth. "I kinda told him that we kind of, you know--"

"Know what? What did you tell him?" I asked.

Brian whispered what he told Detective Benson in my ear.

"What?!" I shouted.

I stood up quickly, but was yanked down swiftly because I was still handcuffed to the table. Everyone sitting at the table stared at me. I sat down slowly and turned to Brian.

"If I wasn't handcuffed to the table right now I would punch you in the stomach." I whispered fiercely.

"Well, I kinda had to, so be glad I didn't tell him the truth." he whispered back at me.

"I forgive you." I said.

He smiled and blushed.

"Shawnee" said Detective Benson, waving her over. She gave me a hard look and I returned it.

"So what happened that night?" he asked.

Shawnee frowned. Trying to remember what she wanted to forget was hard for her.

"Let's see." she said. "I got there, found out my boyfriend was cheating on me, ran to the girl's bathroom. I was in there for like five minutes when Lana came in. She was drenched in like-punch or something, I guess someone dumped a cup of punch over her was in there for like three minutes and than Elly came in. Her and Lana talked for a minute and then Elly threw a knife and it hit Lana's back."

Shawnee shuddered and fought back tears of fear.

"And than she just kept hurting her and she finally died."

Detective Benson nodded. Shawnee broke down crying, sucking in shuddery breaths.

"I swear she did it sir." she gasped. "Elly murdered Lana."

I watched Shawnee stagger out of the interrogation room wiping her eyes. I gave her a murderous glare, and she looked away sadly.

"Devi." called Detective Benson.

Devi walked calmly in with her head held high. I admired her courage. And than I realized that she had no idea what was going on. Woops, forgot to mention it to her.

"So, Devi." said Detective Benson. "You're Elly's mom, right?"

Devi nodded.

"What did you do on friday night?"

Devi thought for a second.

"Well, a couple weeks before that, Elly ran away, so on friday I finally checked her father's house. Her and Brian came charging through the door and Me and Elly had a big fight. After that Elly and Brian went somewhere else and me and her father had a fight. I left a couple hours later."

Detective Benson frowned and nodded.

"Do you and Elly fight a lot?" he asked.

Devi frowned and closed her eyes for a second. Thousands of memories rushed back to her suddenly and she shuddered. She opened her eyes, blinking back tears.

"Yes." she whispered.

I kind of dreaded seeing Devi when she came out. first of all, it meant I was next, second of all, I was angry at her. How was she supposed to even think that I could forgive her after what she did to me! It was her fault that I'm the monster I've become. I looked down at my arms. They were bruised and covered in scars. Every single scar on my arm was her fault. I gritted my teeth angrily. No wonder told my dad to kill her fourteen years ago. Detective Benson walked up and unfastened my handcuffs from the table. He led me into the interrogation room. Before the door shut I ran back into the waiting room and punched Brian in the stomach. I heard his loud "Oof!" as I walked slowly back into the interrogation room. I flashed him a dazzling smile as the door was shut. Unfortunately, my handcuffs were reattached to the table in there. Detective Benson looked at some papers. I thought about throwing my knife at him and than I remembered that I was handcuffed to the table, so that was one plan that was not panning out for me.

"Elly .C" he finally said.

I looked up. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

He sat down across from me and folded his arms over his chest.

"You know what you're here for?" he asked.

I smiled. "Oh, Detecive Benson." I said. "We both know I'm not going to end up cooperating."

Detective Benson nodded. "Look Elly." he said. "If you plead guilty I can get you a shortened jail sentence."

I nodded like I was contemplating it.

"Sounds goog." I said. "Except for one little thing. I didn't do it!"

Detective Benson's face turned a strange shade of purple and he looked like he wanted to strangle me. Yeah. I have the power to do that to people. Ask my dad. He's tryed to kill me twice.

"Shawnee said--" he started slowly

"Are you really gonna believe what Shawnee says?" I cut him off. "I mean- just look at her. She's had a terrible life, how do you know she didn't do it and is just blaming me? Or, maybe she's insane?"

I looked him straight in the eye.

"Do I look like I would ever commit a murder?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'm getting too old for this." he muttered.

"Yes." I said. "Yes, you are. Now be a good man and uncuff me please."

I held out my hands and gave him an innocent smile.

Guess where I am now?! A freakin' jail cell! after they made us sign these stupid confession things they put me in a freakin' jail cell! this really ticked me off. And you know what happens when I get ticked off. I screamed until a guard kindly told me to shut up.

"Shut up! Shut up?! I'll shut up when I'm good and ready!" I screamed.

For the rest of the day I paced like a mad woman. Brian visited later. He stood outside of my cell and watched me while I paced.

"So, trial tomorrow." he finally said.

I ran at him suddenly and grabbed the bars.

"Get me out of here!" I shouted, shaking the bars. "It's tearing me apart!"

Brian laughed. I finally flopped down, defeated. My eyes widened quickly and I looked up at the ceiling. A ventilation duct was right above my cot. I had a wonderful idea.

Brian stared at Elly. He knew he had to tell her. It was now or never. He watched her rummage through things and run back and forth. He wondered how she managed to do that in a room the size of a closet. Brian took a breath and cleared his throat.

"Elly?"

She stopped doing what she was doing and managed an unintelligible

"Uh?"

"Lly, I have to tell you something."

Elly raised her eyebrows. In this light she really was beautiful. Brian swallowed hard.

"Can this hurry?" she interrupted. "I have to get out of here."

"Elly, ever since I first saw you-"

Brian trailed off and stared at Elly. She tapped her foot impatiently.

"I dont know how to say this. I feel-different around you. Good. You--make me feel happy. Elly, I'm...I'm..."

Brian felt like he was going to throw up. Elly walked over to him and put one hand on his shoulder.

"Brian, you're stuttering." she said. She smiled. "Go home and get some rest. I'll be fine. Won't be in here too much longer anyway..."

Brian grabbed Elly's hand and held it close to him gently. Elly looked surprised.

"Elly, I'm in love with you." he whispered.

All the expression fell from my face. I pulled my hand away from Brian. I couldn't meet his eyes, and I looked down. His smile faded and he looked away.

"I love you Elly." he said again, quietly.

I put my hand to my head and walked back to where I had been sitting. I shook my head a couple times to clear it. It was quiet for a while. I looked up to realize that Brian was still sitting there. A single tear slid down his face.

"I'm sorry." he said, walking off quickly.

I stood up and ran to the bars.

"Brian, wait!" I whispered. "I love you too. So much."

I put my back to the bars and sank to the ground. I buried my face in my hands.

I didn't move from that spot for a very long time. I didn't know how long. Hours maybe. But man, was my butt ever numb. I heard a noise behind me and looked up. Brian's mother, Tess stood behind me, looking scared.

"Elly?"

I stood up.

"Elly, Brian's missing. He came here at four to see you. It's going to be midnight in thirty minutes."

My mouth fell open. I was instantly taken back to a conversation I had with Brian a long time ago. We were walking to the mall. I had randomely turned to him and said,

"If you were ever going to commit suicide, what would you do?"

he frowned. "Well, first of all, why would I be committing suicide in the first place?"

I thought for a second.

"I don't know." I answered. "Why would you ever commit suicide?"

Brian shrugged. "I guess if I lost someone I loved, or realized that I really am all alone in this world."

I nodded. "How would you do it?"

"I would jump off a cliff. At midnight."

We were silent for a while.

"Can we change the subject?" he finally asked.

I shook myself out of my flashback and blinked hard.

"Elly, are you okay?"

I nodded and turned around. Standing on my cot, I unfastened the bolts of the grate and pulled it off. I jumped up and wiggled into the ventilation system.

There were dead rats in here and it smelled like crap. I moved slowly and quietly through, trying not to make a sound, looking down occasionally. I swear I saw some dude get the electric chair. Now I'm really scared for the trial. I went past Detective Benson's office and glanced down at the clock. It was eleven fourty five. I started to hurry and accidentaly knocked over a cieling panel. It hit the floor with a loud clatter. is truggled to hurry before Detective Benson saw me. I was running out of time...

Brian sat on the grass at the edge of the cliff. He checked his watch. Eleven fifty. He took a deep breath and walked over to the edge. He looked down at how beautiful the city looked. Thoughts of Elly bounced in and out of his head. He thought about how beautiful she was. He was really and truly in love with her. He would die for her. That's why he was here. As he stood there, he reflected on how terrible his life had been. The whole time everyone had always told him, Don't worry Brian, we'll get through this. Well, he was done "getting through this" Elly was the only good thing that had happened to him and he had lost her. And he was not "getting through this" As he stood he thought of Elly. The first time he ever saw her. The way she understood him. The beautiful way she smiled when she saw him. How she told him she would kill a thousand people to protect way she laughed. Her lips, soft under his and her hands running through his hair. Her slender figure moving smoothly as they danced. The way he loved her so much more than life. He couldn't live without her. Tears slid down his face. He thought of Elly one last time.

As if getting out wasn't enough, I have less than ten minutes to get to Brian before he's gone out of my life forever. As I ran frantically to the cliff, thoughts of Brian rushed through my head. What did I love the most about him? Well, he was attractive, at least to me anyway. He was funny, smart, wonderful, and even when it was unexpected, he was a great kisser. His beautiful eyes and soulful gaze. And the best part of all, he loved me. The worst part was that he was about to leave my life forever because I was stupid and got tongue tied. I tripped and fell, cutting my arm on a shard of glass. I stood up and kept on running, ignoring the blood trickling from my arm. I was almost there... so close I could taste it.

Brian looked at his watch. There, midnight. Finally, all the grief would come to an end. Brian drew in a deep breath and held his arms out wide, poised to jump.

"Brian No!" shrieked a familiar voice. Brian turned to see Ellys tanding behind him.

"I'm sorry." he said, turning back around. "You got here too late, Lly."

Elly put her hand around Brian's wrist.

"Listen to me." she said, a pleading look in her eyes.

Brian lowered his arms and turned around to face her. She stared him straight in the eye, taking his other wrist.

"Don't do this. I can barely handle my life as it is, please don't make it harder on me. It would kill me inside to lose you. I just want to tell you...I-I... I've never felt this way about anyone else before, and to hear that you loved me, just shocked me because nobody does, and well..."

Brian took his hand out of Elly's grasp and brushed the hair out of her face. He leaned forward and kissed Elly on the lips. He put his hand on her face and she put her hand on his. They moved closer.

It was over all too soon. We broke apart and he stared at me.

"I love you too." I said.

We both looked up at the sky and our fingers intertwined. I smiled happily.

"This is all I've ever wanted and more." I whispered.

Brian tore his gaze away from the sky to look at me. His brow furrowed.

"Lly, you're bleeding." he said worriedly.

I looked at my arm. Sure enough, a tiny river of blood sprouted from a cut.

"Yeah, I fell escaping from jail to get to you." I explained.

My eyes widened suddenly.

"Brian will you make me a promise?"

He nodded. "I'll do whatever you want Lly."

I swallowed hard. "Brian will you promise me that you will never even try to commit suicide ever again?"

Brian nodded. "Only if you promise me the same."

I took my knife out.

"What are you doing?" Brian asked, worry giving his voice a hard edge.

I held it inches above my palm. "I'm making you a blood promise." I said.

I slit my palm and wiped the knife on my pants. I took a deep breath and handed the knife to Brian. He looked unsure.

"Oh, it doesn't hurt that much." I said.

Brian slit his palm and gasped, biting his lip to mask an outburst of pain.

"Now what?" he asked.

I held out my hand and he clasped it.

"Don't let go." I said.

Our fingers intertwined and Brian held me close to him.

"I don't want to." He whispered in my ear.

I smiled. Now, even my terrible life was perfect. I closed my eyes and breathed in Brian's comforting scent deeply. Here I was with the man I loved. I didn't even want to think about the trial and or impending jail time that threatened to tear us apart.

Mr. Eff was restless. He paced back and forth endlessly. The girl's time was almost up. The monster was days from getting out. PyschoDoughboy walked up.

"The time of death is almost at hand." he said. "How will you react to the girl being gone?"

Mr. Eff frowned.

"I don't know." he said. "It will be a pleasant trip. Though I can't help feeling that we could've gotten to the girl as well."

"True." added PyschoDoughboy. "Though having the girl gone may make Johnny kill himself."

An evil smile split his face.

"It sure would. It sure would." he said.

So, Die-ary now I leave you. My hear bursts with joy and anticipation for the days that me and Brian have ahead of us. The only catch to it is that we may be spending those moments with me behind bars. anyway Die-ary, goodbye.

Love, Elly


	9. Of all the innocent they are the guilty

Dear Die-ary,

Oh. Hello die-ary. This is akward. I haven't talked to you in days. I'm gonna start with this little prologue before I move onto myd ay. I have wonderful news, and terrible, horrible, evil news. The wonderful news is...I'm not guilty! I remember sitting in the courthouse, my nerves about to die...

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" asked the judge.

"Yes" answered a member of the jury

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, waiting for them to send me to prison. Brian looked like he was praying. I wished he was beside me so he could squeeze my hand and tell me everything was okay.

"The verdict is..."

The woman took a deep breath and looked over at me. The suspense in the court was tearing me apart.

"Not guilty."

I let out a triumphant sigh of relief. Shawnee stood up, an angry look on her face. The lawyer sitting beside her pulled her back into her seat by the shoulder. The woman in the jury cleared her throat, but the uproar went on still.

"Order! Order in the court!" shouted the judge, slamming his gavel for emphasis.

"A cheeseburger!" I shouted, tossing my lawyers briefcase into the air. It hit Shawnee's laywer in the head with a dull Thwack! He slumped sideways and fell to the ground in a faint.

"Oh, a cheeseburger! Extra freedom, easy on the jailtime!"

I ran to the front of the courthouse and started dancing stared at me, but I didn't care. I was free! The jury member cleared her throat impatiently. I ignored it and continued dancing.

"However," she continued. "We feel that Elly C. is not being cared for adequately by her parents and would like to place her in foster care."

I stopped, mid-macarena with one arm on my stomach and one in the air. My happy smile flipped instantly.

"What?!" I shouted. "My parents care for me fine!"

"Elly C. sit down NOW! Before I change my mind and have you hauled off to juvy!" shouted the judge.

I stomped back to my seat and folded my arms over my chest, scowling.

"If your parents care for you so well, than why do you have scars all over your arms?" asked the jury member

"That's none of your business!" I shouted, springing out of my seat.

"May I take over from here?" asked the Jury member.

The judge nodded. The jury member left her seat and walked up to the front of the courthouse.

"I would like to call Brian to the stand." she said, pointing to Brian.

He shuffled awkwardly up.

"Brian what is your relationship with Elly?" she asked.

Brian gave me a questioning look. I smiled and nodded.

"Umm," Brian said, unsure of how everyone would react. "Elly's my girlfriend."

The whole court gasped. The jury member nodded.

"I see." she said. "Do you know anything about the scars on her arms?"

Brian bit his lip uncomfortably. He looked down.

"Brian?"

I stood up quickly, calling attention away from Brian.

"So what if I cut myself, we all have problems to deal with, I just deal with mine differently."

The jury member walked over to me. She looked me up and down as if analyzing a peice of meat that she was about to stuff herself with.

"So you cut yourself." she said. "Why? What kind of skeletons do you keep in that closet of yours?"

"All kinds." I muttered under my breath.

"You're starting to tick me off, so I guess yours is next. Don't worry, I'm out of space, but I can make space especially for yours."

"What?"

I hardened my expression.

"My family life is none of your business lady-"

"Kathryn Griffiths"

"-Whatever, and so you have no right to take me away from my parents, you hear that? No right!"

The judge whacked his gavel.

"She doesn't, but I do." he said.

"I'm going to come over myself to do the evaluation on thursday. I want all of Elly C's family to be there, and if I find that her family life is unsatisfactory, than she'll go directly into foster care, got it?"

"Got it." I said.

"Good. Court adjourned."

Brian walked up to me and gave me a hug.

"Not guilty. Good job." he said.

We walked slowly out of the courthouse, Brian's arm around my waist. Shawnee suddenly stormed up to me and slapped me. My head snapped around and I gasped.

"I know you did it" she spat at me. "You're not innocent, you're a guilty murderer!"

I started forward, but Brian grabbed my waist, holding me back with all his strength.

"You're guilty!" she screamed.

The bailiff came over and pulled her hands behind her back.

"Mark my words Elly C, I'm not going to rest until you rot in jail! MURDERER!"

She screamed as she was dragged down the hall. If I was lucky enough they'd deposit her in the looney bin where she belonged.

Johnny and Devi walked up to me.

"I'm not guilty!" I said happily.

Johnny gave Brian a hard look. I could practically see his mind hissing: Boyfriend!

"Elly, can I talk to you?" asked a familiar voice.

Kathryn Griffiths, the devil incarnate stood behind me.

"Oh, look!" I said. "Brian look it's the cutting nazi!"

Kathryn frowned.

"I have no time for your little jokes, Elly C." she said.

"I'm going to cut right to the chase. I think you are a wonderful girl with a lot of potential."

I busted out laughing.

"Lady, I don't know what the crap you're smoking, but you need to cut back on it."

Kathryn frowned.

"But I think there's something you're not telling me."

I made a shocked look and threw out my arms.

"Congratulations!"

I exclaimed, mock happiness in my voice.

"Give the girl a hand! She's come to the conclusion that I don't tell strangers about my personal life!"

Kathryn frowned and gabbed my arm, pulling up me sleeve.

"Hey, what are you doing?! I'll scream rape!"

Kathryn examined my scars, including the most recent one that stretched from elbow to shoulder.

"I worry about you Elly." She said, releasing my arm.

"You need help."

"Yes." I said.

"Yes, I do need help, now leave." I shooed her away.

And that's my news. The terrible, horrible, evil news is: looks like we have company for dinner tomorrow. Around Johnny's house, we don't do guests. Ask the last guy who dropped in for a visit. Oh wait, you can't. He's dead. Anyway, it means I have to clean the whole house by myself. On a scale of one to ten on how hard it is to clean Johnny's house, I would have to say.... A zillion million. I convinced Johnny to let Brian come to dinner with us tomorrow. He's taking our relationship rather well though. I mean, besides the fact that he takes joy from scaring the living daylights out of Brian. That makes me kind of angry. I gotta hand it to him though, it is pretty funny. In a scary, twisted sort of way. But who in this house isn't scary and twisted?

Johnny looked at the wall nervously. The blood of the person he had killed earlier had dripped all the way down the wall and collected in big puddles under it. He crouched down and ran his finger through a puddle. Confirming that it really was blood, and it really was recent, he wiped his finger on his pants and stood up. There was so much he had to worry about now. I have to face Devi tomorrow, who, by the way I am still in love with, Elly and that boy I like to scare are going out now, he thought. I have someone coming over tomorrow and I don't do company well. Ask the last guy who dropped in for a visit. Oh wait, you can't. He's dead. And now I'm even starting to worry about Lly's safety. It's not like I have much to worry about though. I mean, she's pretty safe right? PyschoDoughboy couldn't have been right. No, he was lying. I bet you he was lying. Lly is as safe as can be. But even in the middle of his thoughts, Johnny still felt like there was something horribly, terribly wrong.

Well, all this boils down to the fact that this is the shortest Die-ary entry I've had in a long time. Oh well. Who cares. Til' next time.

Love Elly


	10. The Entry In Which I Die

Dear Die-ary,

Isn't it funny how the first fourteen years of my life were a neverending parade of misery? Where I would come home every day and cut myself to numb the pain. Well, now I'm glad to say the past is far behind me. Though I still bear the past's hideous reminders on my arms, I know it's all over. I always thought my life would drag on forever with it's terribleness. But you know, if's finally over. And I have a wonderful future to look forward to.

I bustled around the kitchen busily. There was still so much to do! This was my only chance to prove that I, Elly C. Really do have a responsible and loving family and should not be put into foster care. Yeah, I know. That sentance makes me laugh too. But seriously. I cleaned the house yesterday, I'ms till finishing the last minute decorating, I had to unboard Johnny's windows and put fresh, blood-free curtains on them. Right now I'm in the kitchen, cooking dinner. It's spaghetti. Yum. Brian's coming over and so is Devi. We're all gonna play happy family for a day, and afterwards we can all go home and forget that all this ever happened. And show the stupid judge that they can't put Elly C into foster care! MUHAHAHAHA! Thank goodness it's spaghetti so I can keep me and Johnny far away from the knives. Especially if Devi's coming over. That would be very bad. See, my dad is still in love with my mom, but PyschoDoughboy and don't want him to be, so every once in a while he wants to kinda...kill my mother. Even though he loves her more than any other woman. He kills her with love. And pointy knives. Or at least he tries to. Sometimes. Yeah...

paced along the wall slowly. All morning long the monster had pounded against the confines of it's plaster-filled prison, shaking the floor. it was on the verge of breaking out. Oh, well. He thought. In a matter of hours it will be quieted anyway. The girl doesn't have much longer to live. PyschoDoughboy walked up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Demanded

"The girl's going to die in a little while. Why not cause some final trouble for her?" PyschoDoughboy said.

rolled his eyes.

"I will be glad when the girl's gone." he muttered.

Brian closed the small box that he held and tucked it safely into his pocket. He was going over to Elly's house for dinner. He had to help prove that Elly didn't need to go into foster care. Besides, now they were finally a couple, he couldn't let her go. it hurt him to leave her for a single minute. He straightened his shirt and prepared to walk over to her house.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" I shouted.

I ran to the door and opened it slowly. Devi stood on the steps, looking uncertain.

"Elly!" she said happily.

Her face lit up and she rushed forward to give me a hug.

"Umm, mom?" I said.

"We talked about this."

Devi let go of me. Johnny walked over to us. Devi gave him a hard look, riddled with worry and laced with fear, leaving quickly to take her place at the table. I turned to Johnny and fixed his shirt. I brushed some of the hair out of his eyes.

"There." I said.

"Let her come to you." I whispered, winking at him.

He nodded. I felt a low rumbling under my feet. I also felt a weird tugging sensation in my gut, as if something were pulling me. Johnny seemed to sense it too. His eyes widened and he looked at me worriedly. I bit my lip.

"It was probably nothing." he said, though it sounded like he didn't believe the statement he, himself just made. The doorbell rang a second time and Johnny shook his head, crossing over to find a seat at the table. I opened the door and Brian threw his arms around me.

"Brian!" I exclaimed happily.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he smiled at me. I led him over to the table and he picked out a seat right next to me. Now all we had to do was wait for the stinking judge to get here. His name was Judge Brown.

The rumbling happened again, loud and low, shaking the table.

"What was that?" asked Brian.

"Nothing." I answered.

My hand grabbed the tablecloth and I clenched it so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Brian put his hand on top of mine and gave me a worried look. I let an uncertain smile fall into place and held hands with Brian. The doorbell rang. here it goes, I thought. I got up and welcomed Juge Brown into Johnny's humble (I know, It makes me laugh too!) home. (still laughing!) He sat down at the table and stared hungrily at the spaghetti.

"This all looks delicious."

he said, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. He reminded me of a very large frog.

"So, Elly, did you make this?" he asked

"Yes toady-I mean, sir."

I shook my head to clear it and blinked hard. I stood up and ladled spaghetti onto everyone's plate. I let them help themselves to salad and rolls. I sat down and started to eat. Halfway through dinner, Brian turned to me.

"Lly, you're sweating." he said worriedly

"I am?" I asked, putting my hand to my ehad.

My head had recently started throbbing and I was feeling kind of naseous. Brian looked at me with a concerned look. Something caught my eye and I craned my neck to see what I hoped I had not just seen. Brian frowned and turned to see where I had looked.

"Lly, what are you looking at?" he asked me.

I turned to him and gave him a quick smile.

"One second please." I said.

Suddenly, the tablecloth shuddered and was pulled to the side. I kicked the table leg and clenched my teeth in pain.

"Elly, what's wrong?" asked Devi, who had obviously seen my outburst of pain.

"I dropped my fork." I said through gritted teeth.

I quickly ducked under the table. PyschoDoughboy stood on the other side, pulling at the tablecloth.

"Aha!" I whispered.

"What are you doing here?!"

He gave me an evil smile. I crawled after him, thumping my head on the table. I emerged on the other side, rubbing my head.

"I think I left the oven on." I said, pointing.

I got up and ran into the kitchen. Two cabinets flew open and I dodged them, ducking just in time. Glasses and plates flew out of the cabinets. The others watched me, giving me strange looks as I struggled to keep PyschoDoughboy out of sight. He changed direction, running into the living room and ripping down the curtains. I leaped after him. Judge Brown stared at me.

"I hate those drapes." I said, giving him a big smile.

I looked around quickly, but saw no sign of PyschoDoughboy, sighing in relief. I grabbed a bottle of champage and filled everyone's glasses.

"Does anyone want to propose a toast?" asked Judge Brown.

Johnny thought for a second and raised his hand hesitantly. The Juge nodded. Johnny looked at me and raised his glass.

"To Elly." he said.

Brian held up his glass next to Johnny's and gave me a smile. A chorus of "To Elly" rang through the table. As everyone was draining their glasses the biggest tremor of all rocked the house. The table shook, things fell off the shelves, the very foundation was shaken. Everyone's glasses shattered, spilling champagne everyone. Johnny stood up in alarm, a serious look on his face. A loud roar shook the walls of the house. He turned to Devi.

"Devi, get Judge Brown out fo the house." He ordered.

Devi looked puzzled.

"Devi, get yourself-and him- out of the house immediately."

I got up and ran away from the table.

"Elly?!"

Brian said, running after me. I ran down the stairs and wrenched open the basement door, where the wall was safely hidden. Brian ran after me. I stopped abruptly when I saw the wall. There was not a single drop of blood on it, but there were big puddles of blood ont he floor. Brian smacked into me from behind. A loud rumbling sound followed by an angry roar came from the wall. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. A single tear slid down my face. I knew exactly what I had to do. Brian walked up to me and held my face in his hands.

"Brian." I whispered. He wiped the tears away.

"What is it Lly?" he asked gently, love in his voice.

"What's wrong?"

He leaned down to kiss me, but I shrugged away.

"Brian I have to die."

Shawnee watched from a distance. What was going on in there? she asked herself. She had been watching Elly for three days already and this was the most interesting thing that had happened. The house had been shaking and rumbling all day long and weird growling noises were coming from it. Elly's mom, Devi, she knew, and Judge Brown ran out of the house. Elly's dad, Johnny ran out too. They were running from something. Shawnee frowned. This would allow her to enter the house without jeopardizing her safety. Shawnee would not rest until Elly was behind bars. She didn't care how long she had to watch her or what harm it might cause her. When everyone's back was turned, Shawnee darted into the house.

"What?" asked Brian.

The tears were running down my face

"I have to die." I sobbed.

Brian held me closer.

"Don't say that."

I shrugged him off again. This time I bent over and pulled out my knife.

"Elly, No!" shouted Brian, rushing forward to try to wrestle the knife from me.

"Brian you don't understand." I said, bravery and fear drying up my tears.

"If I don't die the monster will get out and kill us all."

As soon as I said that, the room shook. A large crack in the wall appeared. I heald my knife to my throat and swallowed hard. But suddenly, icy realization struck and I dropped my knife.

"I can't." I said.

I held out my hand to show Brian the remainders of our blood promise. We both looked away. The rumbling came once more and I heard the crack grow bigger. I put my hand on Brian's shoulder and he looked down at me.

"I cant-" I started.

I took my hand off Brian's shoulder and closed both his hands around the handle of my knife. I really didn't want to finish this sentence.

"But you can."

Johnny had his hand on Devi's back as he led them a safe distance away from the house. He knew that it was going to get bad, and it was going to get bad fast. He looked up quickly and stopped. Devi turned at the same time.

"Elly and Brian are still in the house." he said.

Without another word, he turned and raced back in. The whole house shook and the floor was a mess of broken glass. Johnny flung open doors, hoping desperatley that they were safe.

Tears spilled out of Brian's eyes.

"I ca-" he started.

I raised his arms so that the knife was level at my heart.

"I love you." I said.

I put one of my hands on his face. I walked forward and kissed him.

Brian knew he wouldn't be able to do this. The one person he loved more than life was asking him to kill her. He held Elly closer. But as they kissed, he knew something was wrong. As soon as their lips met, Elly had gone stiff. He let go of the knife he was holding and held her closer still. He put one hand on her face. It was cold. He suddenly felt something warm and wet soaking through his clothes. He let go of Elly. The knife was buried in her chest. He had been holding it when she moved forward to kiss him, and it had plunged into her heart. It was her blood that now stained his clothes.

"No." he gasped.

Elly's eyes looked straight forward. They were glazed over and her mouth was open. Blood trickled out of the side of it. Brian closed his eyes and pulled the knife out of her chest.

Johnny threw open the door to the basement and ran straight to the room with the wall behind it. He got there too late. He watched Brian pull the bloody knife out of Elly's chest.

"No!" he shouted.

He ran forward and shoved Brian out of the way. Elly slumped forward. Johnny caught her easily and and held her to him tightly. She coughed and shuddered. Brian ran over to see her.

"Get away from her!" Johnny shouted fiercely.

"Nny." whispered Elly.

Johnny looked down at her.

"H-had to do it." she said faintly.

"Not Brian's fault."

She coughed again.

"Needed to save everyone. Monster only wants my blood."

Both Johnny and Brian were crying now. Brian took her hand.

"I love you Elly." he whispered.

Johnny moved over to let Brian hold Elly. Brian lifted her head up slowly, kissing her, ignoring the blood dripping from her mouth. She shuddered and he pulled back. He watched as the last breath left her fragile body and all the light died from her eyes. He frowned and pressed her head into his chest. Johnny watched as Brian shuddered with sobs. He went forward and put his hand on Brian's shoulder. Brian turned to look at Johnny.

"Sir." he said.

"I love your daughter so much more than life. I-I don't know what I'll do without her."

Johnny closed his eyes. The shaking and rumbling jogged him out of his sadness.

"Come on." he said.

"We have a job to do."

Brian nodded and let Elly's hand drop to the floor.

Shawnee passed by the door and was now watching the spectacle in the darkness, hidden and unseen by the others. Elly was dead. Wait a minute, Elly was dead? This was terrible and wonderful at the same time. Terrible because she couldn't act out her revenge. Wonderful because this was a form of revenge in itself. Something inside of her laughed and she left the house to see how everyone would react to this news.

It was over slower than Brian would have liked. It was torture. Both her wrists and her throat were slit for more blood. The work was murder on Brian. Johnny left slowly, crying silently. Brian fished the small box out of his pocket and opened it. It was a diamond ring on a silver chain. Brian fastened it tenderly around her neck. he looked at the huge gash on her throat. There was something odd about it. It seemed like it was...getting smaller. Closing up. He grabbed her wrist quickly, examining the slit. It was closing up too. Her chest shuddered and her eyes blinked open. She gasped for breath. Brian smiled through his tears. Her hand went to her throat and she looked at the necklace. Her dark eyes looked straight at Brian. She smiled weakly. Brian sat next to her.

"Can you get up?" he asked.

She raised her head and grimaced in pain.

"No." she said.

Brian put one arm on her back and one under her legs and lifted ehr slowly.

Johnny left the house and walked over to Devi and Judge Brown; in tears.

"Where's Elly?" asked Devi worriedly.

Johnny looked down and opened his mouth.

"E-Elly's dead." he said quietly.

"No she's not." came a voice from behind him. He turned to see Brian carrying Elly.

"What happened?" asked Devi.

"I tripped and fell on my knife." she said weakly.

"Oh goodness." said Judge Brown.

"We need to get her to the hospital immediately."

And so Dear, Die-ary, Here i stand now. I don't remember much about that night, but I do remember sticking my tongue out and flipping off and PyschoDoughboy as Brian carried me outside. I checked out fo the hospital in a couple days. life is pretty much back to normal for me. Well,a s normal as normal is for me. I'm back to living with Devi permanently, but I do see Johnny now. Me and Brian are still together happily, and I'm not in foster care. But something did change for me. I made a promis to never kill or cut myself ever again. And so far I've kept it. This time I know for sure that life is going to get better. And it is.

Happily Yours,

Love, Elly.


End file.
